Welcome Parishioners!

Newcomers, please register at the Office.

You are most welcome and we do want to

meet you.

The Catholic Communities

Of Keith County Fourth Sunday of Easter May 3, 2020

Office Staff

Pastor — Rev. Bryan Ernest 284-3196

frb@kccatholics.com

Office — 417 East 3rd Street 284-3196

Secretary — Joan Krause 284-3196

joan@kccatholics.com

Dir. of Faith Formation — Caroline Spurgin 284-3196

dre@kccatholics.com

St. Luke’s School — Sr. Loretta Krajewski 284-4841

stlukesschool@saintlukesschool.com

Parish Council Pres. — Dave Schwasinger 284-4915

St. Luke’s School Bd. Pres. —Jason Tickle 284-4055

School Endowment Fund—Dr. Scott Weber

284-4705

Pro-Life Rep.—Barb Meismer—308-726-2006

Music Ministry — Carol Kraus 289-0366

Knight’s of Columbus — Jim Lempke 289-1688

Prayer Chain — Joanie Halligan 284-2330

For Information — Call the Parish Office at 284-3196e

Hours — Mon. thru Thurs. 9:00 a.m. — 12:00 & 1:00

p.m. — 4:00 p.m. Friday 9:00 a.m. — 12:00 noon

Website — www.kccatholics.com

Pastor — Rev. Bryan Ernest 284-3196

Paxton Church—308-239-4337

Office — 308-386-4300

410 Poplar St., Sutherland, NE

E-mail: sacredheart@gpcom.net

Secretary - Caroline Spurgin 308-239-4558

Religious Education

Elementary — Pattie Perlinger

High School — Jan Spurgin

Parish Council President—Kim Elder

Pro-Life Representative — Alex McConnell

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church 301 East 4th St., Paxton, NE

Mission of St. Luke’s, Ogallala, NE

St. Luke’s Catholic Church 417 East 3rd Street, Ogallala, NE

St. Luke’s Catholic Church

Eucharistic & Sacramental Celebrations

SATURDAY EVENING MASS FOR OBLIGATION

5:00 p.m. Ogallala

SUNDAY MASSES

8:00 a.m. in Paxton & 10:00 a.m. in Ogallala

DAILY MASSES 8:00 a.m. in Ogallala Mon. thru Fri.

(Tues. Communion Service)

HOLY DAY MASSES As announced

RECONCILIATION

Saturdays from 4:00 p.m. or by appointment.

BAPTISMS

Call Father for an appointment to do Baptismal

preparation

HOLY COMMUNION FOR THE SICK

Please call the Parish Office.

MARRIAGES Arrangements must be made 4 months in

advance.

ST. LUKE’S CATHOLIC CHURCH OGALLALA, NEBRASKA

ALL PUBLIC MASSES & SERVICES ARE CANCELLED UNTIL FUR-

THER NOTICE. PRIVATE MASS WILL BE OFFERED EACH DAY

FOR THE PARISH BY FR. BRYAN

Mon. May 4th Frances McKillip

Tue. May 5th Vannie Hoover

Wed., May 6th Khuyen Hudson

Thu., May 7th Toni Cogil

Fri. May 8th Jim Thalken

Sat. May 9th Eithe Vinton

Sun. May 10th Bill Harris

(Recorded Mass) People of God

We just recently completed the 50th Anniversary

of Earth Day. St. Francis is the patron saint of the

environment. He loved the earth and walked re-

spectfully and reverently over the land and saw it

as holy ground. We are called to do the same. As

we prepare our lands and garden spaces, may we

be mindful of the holy earth of which we love. Happy and

Blessed Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us. We place

our lives before you and pledge to do our part in protecting our

natural resources for not only our generation, but generations to

come! “Let us renew the face of the earth.”

While the calendar moves along into May we are hopeful for

the virus to lessen and we can move towards returning to some

regular routines. As I write this we are still awaiting the direc-

tives from the Bishop regarding how we are to begin having pub-

lic Masses and celebrating the sacraments. Stay tuned!!

On this Fourth Sunday of Easter or, Good Shepherd Sunday.

Psalm 23 stands out as a way to view the readings for today. Our

life is an ongoing embrace of God’s will for us, in times and bad,

in sickness and health, we live in the hope of Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

We pray for those walking through the dark valley. May they

lack nothing and find peace in the hope of Jesus’ resurrection.

Peace,

Fr. Bryan

*****************************************************

Congratulations!! Doug Havermann is the winner of the

St. Luke’s School weekly calendar drawing this week.

*****************************************************

FYI...Church Office — Limited visits to the Church office.

Please call the office at 284-3196 if needing to see Fr. Bryan or

other questions. Thank you!

High School Seniors and fami-

lies...

Normally this Sunday we would cele-

brate our Seniors with a Graduation Mass

and breakfast. We honor you near or far

away due to the current situation, it is my

prayer for each of you to walk with the Lord daily, when in those

difficult moments. May the choices you make reflect your faith

in Jesus Christ. May Mary the Mother of Jesus surround each of

you in her mantle of love.

My prayers and love,

Fr. Bryan

Today we honor our members of the Graduating Class of 2020. It

has been on honor to see Hunter Skalsky, Clayton Murphy, Adam

Kroeger, James Delahunty, Skyler Swanson (Arthur) and Jeremy

McMillan-Peters (Paxton) grow into adults. May you all receive

our Lord’s abundant blessings in your new chapter of life.

Hunter Skalsky Adam Kroeger

James Delahunty

(All other photos not available)

CANCELLED Youth Retreats – It is with a heavy heart that we

must announce Higher Ground week 1, 2 and Steubenville of the

Rockies has been cancelled this year due to restrictions to the

COVID-19 virus. Higher Ground has been held for 55 years. We

absolutely do not want to let the Corona virus interrupt this in-

credible legacy. We plan on having ONE WEEK of Higher

Ground in August. You must be registered for week 1 or 2 to at-

tend this week. Please contact Caroline Spurgin on how to regis-

ter for August or to cancel your registration sport and receive a

refund. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.

Higher Ground Xtreame Faith for Middle School, July 12-16 at

Camp Maranatha in Maxwell) is still accepting registrations.

ALL MINISTRIES CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

St. Luke’s would like to thank everyone for

your financial support during this time. We

are all missing going to Mass but want to

make sure we are taking the COVID-19 safety restrictions seri-

ously to keep us all safe.

We are humbly thankful for all of your generous donations.

Please send your weekly contributions to the

church office (417 East 3rd St.) or you can

drop them off in the mailbox by the office door.

Thank you for your continued support, as we

still need to pay our bills.

Also something to think about during this time of Mass

cancellations and continued Church support.

Automatic Bank Withdrawal is available for regular church col-

lections. There are forms in the back of church and at the church

office if interested, call Joan at 284-3196. Please strongly con-

sider this option, as it would make budgeting for the church year

much easier as well as your on going contributions. Thanks.

*****************************************************

The Knight’s of Columbus collected 405 lbs of food items

and $3565.00 last Saturday in the church parking lot

Drive-By Donations for the Food Pantry in Ogallala.

*****************************************************

THE MONTH OF MARY

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of

mercy, Our life, our sweetness,

and our hope. To thee do we

cry, poor banished children of

Eve. To thee do we send up our

sighs, mourning and weeping

in this valley of tears. Turn

then, most gracious advocate,

thy eyes of mercy towards us.

And after this, our exile, show

unto us the blessed fruit of thy

womb, Jesus. O clement O lov-

ing O sweet Virgin Mary.

Fourth Sunday of Easter May 3, 2020

FYI...The Governor is leaving it up to faith leaders to make

responsible decisions about holding “faith-based service in houses of worship.” This will depend on the virus situation in our area, it appears that further guidance from the state will be coming out this week.

1. Weekday Masses can resume on Monday, May 4th,

following the standards of the state guidance for

social distancing and sanitizing. Holy Communion

may be distributed only under the form of conse-

crated hosts.

2. Sunday and Saturday anticipatory Masses may

resume the weekend of May 9-10, also following the

standards of the state guidance for social distancing

and sanitizing. The obligation to attend Mass will

NOT YET be in effect. Those who are now sick and

anyone whose health is compromised should not

come to church. Holy Communion may be distrib-

uted only under the form of consecrated hosts. Cof-

fee and donuts and other social gatherings are NOT

YET permitted according to the state guidance.

3. Funerals will be able to take place once again, start-

ing on May 4th, according to the standards of the

state guidance, with social distancing and sanitiz-

ing. Holy Communion may be distributed only un-

der the form of consecrated hosts. This means fu-

neral services may be conducted but they may NOT

YET include the gathering for funeral lunches at our

churches.

4. Weddings may also take place beginning on May 4th,

following the standards of the state guidance for

social distancing and sanitizing. Holy Communion

may be distributed only under the form of conse-

crated hosts. Churches may NOT YET host wedding

receptions or rehearsal dinners.

5. Other classes and formation groups are NOT YET

permitted to take place as part of this re-opening.

The re-opening is for religious services only.

*****************************************************

PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES...All members of the parish

council were present during the April 13 meeting via Zoom.

Thank you to Justin Weber for setting things up. It these difficult

and most uncertain times Father has continued to provide Sunday

online Mass with the assistance of Jason and Megan Tickle, Paul

Foy and Tom Jasnoch. Each week we are seeing around 250 con-

nections to the YouTube channel. That would equate to around

750 people viewing the Mass. On Easter weekend nearly 1500

were tuned in for Easter Morning service. Father continues to say

daily Mass, but at different times to avoid predictable attendance

to stay in compliance with Diocesan and health regulations. The

May Second Sunday Social is cancelled. Dates for First Commun-

ion, Catechumen celebration and Sister Loretta’s retirement cele-

bration are tentatively moved into June. Faith Formation re-

sources are being sent home to parents to continue to instruction.

The St. Luke teachers are also continuing education with online

instruction and individual student packets. Father has received

assistance from Steve Krause and Jessop Adams for application

for funds for small business for payroll and utilities. Thank you

kindly for your continued weekly offerings. Your support is

greatly appreciated.