Christ The King Catholic Community-

We Frs. Tims first want to say: THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the cooperative and community-minded attitude shown by all who attended one of the public Masses last weekend. It was good to be back with you in our churches; we also enjoyed giving First Eucharist to our children who have been waiting for so long. (For the few First Communicants who were out of town, we will give them First Eucharist at the first available time.) Thank you, too, to the ushers, who did a great job. Please consider volunteering to help with this ministry so that we can rotate ushers. If you are a couple with young children, perhaps one of you could usher one weekend’s Mass and the other usher at the following week- end’s Mass.

As much as it pains us to say so, we were also heartened by the choice of many not to come to Mass, especially those most vulnerable should they get COVID-19. You are in our hearts and prayers; when you feel it is safer to return, we look forward to seeing you in person at public Masses.

THIS COMING WEEK the diocese is allowing public daily Mass. In a discussion with Fr. Richard Remmes about this, he said that he didn’t think we should rush things. We Frs. Tims agree! The main issue we were discussing—as we’ve noted these past weeks— was that if we have two public daily Masses in a particular church, we would need to have crews to sanitize that church before and/or after each of those Masses. So, we are taking things one step at a time; we are keeping with diocesan and CDC protocols; we are also using discretion as we move forward and look further down the road. We are reminded of the often-used phrase by President George H.W. Bush (or at least by Dana Carvey in imitating the Pres.): “Not going to do it. Wouldn’t be prudent. Not this juncture.”

The protocol for public daily Mass is for up to two times per week (not consecutive days) in the “main church”. As we did for private prayer in Churches, we are adapting that to our situation by having one public daily Mass per parish church per week; we are doing that in conjunction with the times for personal prayer. Mass will be offered within the two-hour time block so that there is time for personal prayer before and after the Mass. In addition, more than 10 persons may attend—we will follow the seating arrangement in your parish church, and face masks are required (remember, bathrooms are not available).

WEDNESDAYS, starting July 8

•   9:00–11:00 AM, Personal Prayer; Mass @ 10:00 AM, St. John

  the Baptist, Arcadia

•   11:00 AM–1:00 PM, Personal Prayer; Mass @ NOON, Sacred

  Heart, Templeton

•   4:00–6:00PM, Personal Prayer; Mass @ 5:00PM, St. Elizabeth

  Seton, Glidden

•   4:30–6:30 PM, Personal Prayer; Mass @ 5:30 PM, Our Lady of Mount Carmel
  
  THURSDAYS, starting, July 9

•   11:00 AM–1:00 PM, Personal Prayer; Mass @ NOON, St. Ber-

  nard, Breda

•   4:00–6:00 PM, Personal Prayer; Mass @ 5:00 PM, St. Augustine, Halbur
  
  “Be not afraid” because we Frs. Tims will continue Live-

  streaming Masses, Prayers & Catechesis on the CTKCC (if you can’t watch live, they will be archived on the FB page; https:// www.facebook.com/ ChristTheKingCathollicCommunityBredaIowa). Our schedule for live-streaming is:

•   Tuesday–Friday, 7:45 AM Morning Prayer, 8:00 AM Mass (on Wednesdays, only one of us will be with you for Mass, because the other one will have Masses in two of our parish churches that day—as much as possible, we will alternate, week to week);

•   Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays, 5:00 PM Evening Prayer, followed by “‘Chat’ with the Frs. Tims” or “‘Chat’ with The/the other Fr. Tim” (on Thursdays, only one of us will be with you for the evening, because the other one will have an evening Mass @ St. Augustine, Halbur—as much as possible, we will alternate, week to week).

•   Saturday Mass, 5:30 PM, St. Elizabeth Seton, Glidden, on their FB page (https://www.facebook.com/ StElizabethSetonGlidden/; posted later to CTKCC’s FB page);

•   Sunday Mass, 10:00 AM, St. Bernard, Breda, on CTKCC FB page;

•   The weekend Masses will also be posted on YouTube (https:// www.youtube.com/channel/UCl_reG3jDreke2YjOTPVc9A).

  Because we are not allowed to use missalettes, for the time being, we are all going to be challenged to listen more closely when the Word of God is proclaimed (Old and New Testament Readings, Psalm, Gospel Passage). Listening was the main way of learning the Scriptures for centuries because most people could not read, and even if they could, the reproduction of the texts (scrolls or codices) was cumbersome and expensive. The printing press changed that—not overnight, but certainly over decades. The Gutenberg Bible was published around 1450—in Latin (the Vulgate)—and made it possible to begin having more copies available. Bibles in the vernacular (the common language of a people) became much more available after the Reformation.

Today, we can have the entire Bible, books of spiritual reading and prayers, etc., etc., in the palms of our hands. If you have a “smartphone” and/or a tablet, you might want to have the readings for the Mass available, especially if you have hearing challenges— or like so many of us, listening challenges (we’ve all got used to having the missalette). Here are a few options (we would recommend having the readings available before coming to Mass because most of our parishes don’t have Wifi, and you would likely use less data on your phone plan this way):

•   The website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has the readings for every day (usccb.org). You can click on the day of the calendar to call up the readings, or you can register to have the readings emailed to you each day.

•   The app iBreviary (Pro Terra Sancta = for the Holy Land) is free—though the Franciscans will ask for the support of Holy Land Shrines, which is totally up to the user. You can download an entire week or each day in advance, and each day’s readings are provided. There is a “tutorial” for this app by Fr. Tim F. from March 26, 2020, in the videos of CTKCC’s FB page. This app has a lot of other features—we use it for morning and evening prayers (all of the “Office”); it also has many prayers, rites, blessings, etc.

•   The app Laudate has lots to offer. Its name is the Latin plural imperative of laudare, “to praise”. This app provides the daily readings by linking the user to the USCCB website. It also provides many other resources and links to Catholic sites and resources.

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14 (Resp. “I will praise your name forever, my king and my God!”); Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 10:28). This verse, in a slightly different translation, is the Communion Antiphon in the Mass in Time of Pandemic, whose prayers and antiphons we have been using at one live-streamed daily Mass each week. We have all been labored and burdened by this time—some much more than others. Those of us who are not as labored and burdened as others may see this as an opportunity to serve our parishes and communities in new ways. Service not only gives what is needed by the person served, but it also creates meaning and purpose of the one who serves. And, of course, we follow the one who came “not ... to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45; Mt 20:28; cf. Lk 22:27c).

When we go to our servant Lord, what he asks of us—if it is truly the Lord who is asking—will not further burden us. Rather, what the Lord asks of us builds up our sense of the meaningfulness and the purposefulness of our lives. This gives us spiritual and personal energy, a resilience for life! We will know what St. Paul did, that it is the Lord’s “Spirit that dwells in” us (Rom 8:11c). When we really live our lives grounded in the Holy Spirit’s pres- ence and power, we will be less labored and burdened.

Again and again, I am reminded of the powerful words of Fr. Thomas Merton (Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemane, KY) in his book He is Risen: “True encounter with Christ liberates something in us, a power we did not know we had, a hope, a capacity for life, a resilience, an ability to bounce back when we thought we were completely defeated, a capacity to grow and change, a power of creative transformation....”

That is certainly true of a true encounter with our Lord, whose “yoke is easy, and ... burden light.” This saying is found only in Mt 11:30; what a blessing to hear these words in this time of pandemic. They are a much-needed reminder.

Due to the Coronavirus crisis, the parish office is closed to the public.
 
The following conditions are effective March 20th: 

• The parish office will continue to be staffed from 9:00 AM to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday.

• Please use the maildrop slot to leave your church support and any other items for the parish(es) attention.

• Walk-in traffic is accepted only by appointment. Please call 673-2582.

Thank you for your understanding.