Reflections on the Triduum: Join Seminarian Intern Peter Binder in the Church on Sunday, March 24 @ 6:30 PM for reflections on the three most important days of the liturgical year: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. We will explore the historical and theological roots of these striking liturgies and draw out what they mean for our own lives. Whether or not you've attended these liturgies before, they contain so much that can speak to our experience.
SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2024 AT THE MAJESTIC MOON. Social Hour begins at 6pm. Save the date and plan to celebrate in the Easter Season with an evening that will sure to be a blast with your Parish family & friends! A Dueling Pianos night is coming, along with a silent auction, food, beverages, good music and good conversation. This is a fundraising event. More details to come soon. For now, please save the date!
ATTENTION LADIES OF BLESSED SACRAMENT! The Parish Life Committee is looking for two women to be the new coordinators for the Spring Salad Supper & Vendor Show. We have all the notes you need from the previous coordinators of this event to help you plan and we even have parishioners who are willing to help with certain aspects of the evening itself. This is a great gift to give the women of the Parish. Team up with a friend, a family member, or a small group of friends to run this fun and well-attended event for our Parish! If interested, please contact Parish Life Committee Chair: Kelley Schmitz at schmitz_kelley@yahoo.com or (515)-689-6279.
SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 9:30 - 11:30 AM. LIVE VIDEO CONFERENCE. This online preparation program is for first-time parents in the Waterloo parishes who are planning to baptize an infant or young child in the near future. Parents should be registered members of a parish and may either register at the class or coordinate registration soon. To register for the baptism class, CLICK ON THIS ARTICLE. To register with Blessed Sacrament Parish, please contact Maggie in the office: m.england@dbqarch.org or 319-233-6179.
Blessed Sacrament Parish Life is opening up the Parish Center for its FINAL Family Open Gym of the season THIS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd FROM 6PM - 8PM! Parents feed your kids dinner before coming, but then bring them over to the Parish Center and let them enjoy some free play until their hearts are content or until 8PM (whichever comes first). This is a great opportunity for the kids in our Parish to get to know each other and for parents to enjoy chatting with other parents. There will be more open gyms to come over these winter months ahead, so if you miss this one, the next one is scheduled for FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 AT 6:30PM (following the Immaculate Conception Mass).
Terri Glidewell has announced her upcoming retirement in March. Thank you, Terri, for your many years of dedicated service to the parish. You will be missed! With her retirement, the decision has been made to not hire a new bookkeeper. Amy Johnston, the Business Manager, will take on some of Terri' duties, in addition to her current duties. Since Amy is taking on additional duties, that will affect her availability in the office. So, starting Monday, March 4th, the parish office will be limited to visits by appointment only on Mondays. Tuesdays through Fridays, the Parish Office will be open as usual from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM.
Catholic Daughters, Court Castile #49, Waterloo, Iowa will hold their next monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 14 in the Blessed Sacrament Parish Center. Meet at 6:00pm for dinner, followed by a short program. A short business meeting will follow at 7:00pm. To make a reservation or for more information about becoming a member, please call 319-45-4438. Reservations are required by Friday, February 9, 2024.
FRIDAYS, FEBRUARY 16, MARCH 1 AND MARCH 22, 5:00 - 7:30 PM, PARISH CENTER. COST: $14 (in advance) and $15 (at the door). MENU: Fish, Shrimp, Potatoes, Mac and Cheese, Coleslaw, Vegetable, Rolls, Water & Lemonade. Just like last year, we are asking for volunteers in the parish to help with these fish frys. We need help setting up, serving the meal, and cleaning up. If you can help with any of these dates, please contact Tim PIllack by email at: pillack123@mchsi.com or text message at 319-269-6656.
JOIN FR. TONY on February 1st at 6:00 PM in Putz Hall for an informational meeting about the upcoming pilgrimage to Greece & Turkey. This is a chance to walk in the footsteps of St. Paul! Explore the vibrant cities of Athens and Corinth, where St. Paul wrote some of his most powerful letters that continue to inspire and guide us today. Cruise to the enchanting city of Ephesus in Turkey, where tradition holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary spent her last days on earth. Step onto the sacred grounds of Patmos, where the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelations, and walk in the very footsteps of St. Paul and his disciples as they traveled to Greece to share the Good News! Cost: $5,500. Package includes: 11 days/9 nights, 2 meals per day, admission to all sites, Catholic tour guide, and all gratuities! Want more information? Come to the meeting on February 1st or contact Eddie Abufarha at 800-687-0306.
Representatives from the Holy Land will be present in the Gathering Space the weekend of January 27/28 selling religious art carved from precious olivewood from the Holy Land. All olivewood art is made by and sales support Christians in the Holy Land. Please consider helping them out, especially in this time of war.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS - JOYFULLY GIFTED IS COMING BACK.... What Spiritual Gifts has God offered you? Join us for a Joyfully Gifted Workshop at Blessed Sacrament to discover and discern your spiritual gifts! Our workshop will be held on Saturday, January 27, 2024, from 8:15AM to 13:15 PM in Putz Hall. A continental breakfast will be provided by our Stewardship Committee. This workshop is FREE. Registration will be held in person after ALL MASSES THIS WEEKEND, and you can also register by calling the office (Maggie England) at 319.233.6169 or by going to our website: https://blessedsacramentwaterloo.org/joyfully-gifted-workshop
I will continue to celebrate the scheduled daily Mass (except in cases of a funeral), even if school is cancelled. However, with that being said, parking lots and sidewalks may not be cleared in time for daily Mass. Please use caution, stay safe, or even stay home. Mass will still be live streamed. If out of necessity the daily Mass needs to be cancelled due to weather, we will try to publish a notice of cancellation through KWWL and KCRG TV stations.
ARCHBISOP ZINKULA IN WATERLOO! THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2024, 6:30 - 8:00 PM MAJESTIC MOON, 1966 LOCKE AVE, WATERLOO. Archbishop Thomas Zinkula will be the first Winter Forum speaker in Waterloo on Thursday, January 18. The newly-installed Archbishop will discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the church in Iowa and in the world. This is one of the Winter Forum programs sponsored by our Waterloo Catholic Faith Formation. This program is free and is open to the public. Learn more at waterloocatholics.org/winter-forum. In the event of bad weather, this event will be held online.
Beginning this weekend, December 9-10, we will officially be starting a Children's Offering at each Mass. Offering boxes are again available for pickup after Mass to children up to 10 years of age. These boxes can be kept at home for children to put money in during the week as they think about how they can help the church (or others), then brought to Mass with them on the weekend where they will have the opportunity to walk up to the altar at collection time and empty them into a designated container. The number of boxes we have available is limited, so please contact the office if you need one after this week. We hope this will encourage sacrificial giving in our next generation of members!
As many of you heard over the weekend at Mass, we are excited to announce that Archbishop Zinkula has granted our parish to be named a Eucharistic Pilgrimage Site for the Archdiocese of Dubuque for a special six-month period during this National Eucharistic Revival. Blessed Sacrament is the ONLY church in the diocese named for the Blessed Sacrament, so this is an honor, and it is very exciting for our parish! What this basically means is that for six months (26 weeks), starting with the First Monday of Advent, December 4, and ending with our Parish Feast Day (Corpus Christi) on Sunday, June 2, 2024, our Church will be open on an almost daily basis for pilgrims to visit from all over to spend time in our church and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. We will have the Eucharist exposed for adoration during these six months on Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 9:00pm and again on Saturday from 8:30am until just before the 4:30pm Mass. This is where your help is greatly needed! Would you be willing to take one hour a week to be a committed hourly adorer at Blessed Sacrament? Will you also be willing to take that same time every week, or every other week? Click on this article to view the schedule and call the Parish Office at 319-233-6179 and let us know what time slot you want and how often you'd like to be scheduled. We will add you to the schedule and you will get text reminders before each scheduled adoration hour.
Are you interested in joining a bus trip to the National Eucharistic Congress NEXT year? Waterloo Catholic Parishes are considering sponsoring a bus to the Congress, which will be held July 17-21, 2024 in Indianapolis, but we need to know if a sufficient number of people are interested. Participation is limited to 50 persons and priority will be given to members of the Waterloo parishes prior to January 1, 2024. To learn more, simply CLICK on this article.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Dubuque needs your help to meet urgent needs in Northeast Iowa. We are experiencing an unprecedented year as the demand for our compassionate, quality services has grown along with skyrocketing costs to provide these services. We are in urgent need of your generosity. How do you live your discipleship to Christ? A gift to Catholic Charities is an easy way to do just that. It is an act of love that addresses the physical and material needs of others, particularly the poor and vulnerable, as Jesus has taught us. We need your help by October 31, 2023. If you have the ability or are called to do so, you can make your donation online at CatholicCharitiesDubuque.org/donate (CLICK ON THE LOGO) or call 563-588-0558, or mail your gift to Catholic Charities, 1229 Mt. Loretta Ave, Dubuque, IA 52003.
Next weekend (Sept 23/24) is our regularly scheduled Food Pantry collection in support of those in need who frequent St. Vincent de Paul for help. Food is, once again, needed, and there are blue bags in the Gathering Space to help. Here are the needs: Cereal, Soup, Saltine Crackers, Peanut Butter, Spaghetti, Spaghetti Sauce, Fruit Juice, Canned Diced Tomatoes, Chili Mix, V-8 Juice (for chili), Chili Beans, Stove Top Stuffing, Au Gratin Potatoes.
The team is currently being built, but we are excited to offer another Alpha Course at Blessed Sacrament. GET THE DATES SAVED NOW! Alpha will run on Wednesdays from 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM starting October 4th. There are 10 session and one Saturday 1/2-day retreat. REGISTRATION INFO COMING SOON! Contact Maggie in the office if you are interested in participating or can help!
Last weekend, we bid farewell to our own Matthew Evans, who is starting classes this week at Loras College for seminarian formation. If you would like to stay in touch with Matthew by sending him a card or letter of support from time to time as he walks this journey, his address is: Matthew Evans, Vianney House, 1235 Mt. Loretta Ave., Dubuque, IA 52003.