March 17, 2020
Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph and Sts. Peter and Paul,
Following the provisions of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, all parish events and public celebrations of Holy Mass in our parishes are cancelled to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and ‘flatten the curve’ so as to not overburden our healthcare system. (Read the statement from the Archdiocese here.) In these unusual times, we would like to make you aware of how our parish community will be taking steps to continue living our lives yoked to Christ while following the recommendation of the IDPH to practice social distancing.
Fr. Dennis will continue offering private Masses which will be livestreamed on our local Catholic channel on Tuesdays-Fridays at 8:25 a.m. Father will continue offering private Masses at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday and 10:15 a.m. on Sunday which will be livestreamed onto the Catholic channel, as well. The scheduled Mass intentions will be offered and honored at each of these Masses. We are also working to try to livestream each of these Masses on YouTube and Facebook live, so please check our pages on each of those sites if you wish to access live streaming of these Masses from those outlets. Our YouTube page also contains recordings of all of our Sunday Masses.
We highly recommend that members of our parish community set aside a ‘Family Holy Hour’ (at least) weekly at home, perhaps watching the livestream (or recordings) of Mass together, or praying through the Mass readings together to keep faith as a central part of all of our lives. The readings for each day can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/index.cfm . Members of our parish families are also invited to make an ‘Act of Spiritual Communion’ as often as they wish. The prayer to receive a Spiritual Communion is as follows:
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
During this extra time at home for many families, don’t forget about our parish’s subscription to https://formed.org/! More than simply a ‘Catholic Netflix’, you can gain free access to THOUSANDS of Catholic content--from video series to e-books, audio clips, and more--by choosing ‘St. Joseph Bellevue’ from the drop-down box when you are signing up for an account. There is content on FORMED.org that is not only for adults, but for young children and teens!
If you would like to receive the sacraments of reconciliation, anointing of the sick, or Holy Communion during this time, please call or email Fr. Dennis at the number and email listed below to make a private appointment.
Our churches will be unlocked each day for private prayer from 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Please use the utmost discretion and practice the measures prescribed for social distancing if you choose to enter these buildings. To help stop the spread of the many infectious diseases going around, if you are exhibiting any unfavorable symptoms, please withhold from entering the churches.
To continue supporting our parish financially during this time, please use our new online giving (a link is soon to come--please check our webpage, https://www.sjandspp.com/ frequently for updates) or use the donation box at the back of Sts. Peter and Paul Church or the votive box at St. Joseph Church.
Our bulletin will still be available online by visiting https://www.sjandspp.com/bulletins or you are welcome to retrieve one at the entrances of both churches.
We also highly encourage all parishioners who are able to join in all the faithful of the Archdiocese of Dubuque to participate in the day of fasting, abstinence, and prayer on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. On that day, people ordinarily bound on Ash Wednesday to fast and abstain from meat are invited to make those same sacrifices. The Rosary is recommended as a powerful prayer, prayer alone or with others.
We want to express that in the midst of these changing circumstances, we are a community of hope built upon our faith in Jesus Christ. May we use this period of time to strengthen our relationship with Jesus, to heal divisions within our families, and to increase our desire to receive Him in the sacraments.
We join our Archdiocese in praying: God, come to our assistance. Lord, make haste to help us. Mary, health of the sick, pray for us. St. Raphael, patron of the Archdiocese of Dubuque and patron of healing, pray for us.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact any of us during this time at the numbers and emails below.
In Christ,
Fr. Dennis Miller, Deacon Robert Wood, Deacon Loras Weber, Kelsey Kaiser, and Denise Michel
563-872-3234 (St. Joseph)
563-872-3875 (Sts. Peter & Paul)