Fr. Smith and the Parish Pastoral Council would like to let you know about an upcoming parish project for Black History Month, which is next month, to learn about and pray for Black Americans on the road to sainthood.

The US Catholic Bishops highlights six Black Americans, who are under consideration to be recognized as saints. For each of the four weekends in February, we will include a brief write-up in the parish email about one of these six individuals and will pray for the person at that Sunday’s Mass by using his/her prayer and including a petition for his/her sainthood candidacy in the Prayers of the Faithful.

We recently formed a Bible study group that explored the four Gospels during Advent. The group will continue to meet and examine the other New Testament books and letters.

We are using the Panorama of the New Testament study guide published by Little Rock Scripture Study, which is recognized as a leader in assisting Catholic parishes encounter the Bible for over 40 years. The materials are written by respected Catholic biblical scholars and include short video lectures to reinforce the lessons. As the title of the study guide, Panorama of the New Testament, suggests, these sessions will provide a broad overview and are perfect for folks whose only experience with the Gospels is hearing them proclaimed at Sunday Mass.

The next meeting of the Bible study group will be on Sunday, January 10 at 5 PM via Zoom.

Fr. Bill is available to hold an online catch-up session this Sunday, January 3 at 5 PM to orient you to what we covered during Advent. Please email him, [email protected], if you are interested in attending the catch-up session.