Rev. Zach Brasseur, one of the newly ordained Diocese priests will be celebrating the Sunday Mass at St. Scholastica on Sunday, June 5th at 11:30 a.m. Fr. Zach’s first parish assignment will be Our Lady of Lourdes in Dunedin beginning July 1st. Please join our parish in congratulating Fr. Zach who is the son of Kathy and Brad Brasseur, parish staff members.
We were saddened to learn that Fr. Jojo Tejada, our Parochial Vicar will be leaving us on July 1, 2022. The life of a priest often means being able to adapt to being re-assigned every so often to another parish within the Diocese. Priests in the Diocese of St. Petersburg are often reassigned after serving up to six years at a parish. In our case, we were able to keep Fr. Jojo with us for eight years. While we are disappointed that he is leaving us we certainly thank him for his years of ministry here and wish him well in his new assignment at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Spring Hill.
Joining our pastoral staff will be our new Parochial Vicar, Fr. William “Bill” Santhouse. Fr. Bill is coming to us from St. Anne’s Parish in Ruskin. He was ordained a Priest for the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 2015. We look forward to welcoming him to St. Scholastica in July.
Please keep Fr. Jojo and Fr. Bill in your prayers. We are grateful to them and all our Diocesan priests for their willingness to give of themselves in many ways to fulfill the needs of the Diocese and its parishes.
“You are witnesses of these things.” That’s part of Christ’s parting message to the early Church, and therefore, to us. The truth of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, and His salvation of the world, can only be communicated to the world through His witnesses. Through us, the Church.
It’s a pretty incredible responsibility. But it’s also one that Christ equips us for: “behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.” Even so, it’s one that we need respond to. If the Church doesn’t witness to Christ, then no one will.
Obviously, a significant part of our responsibility to be Christ’s witnesses is to individually tell about Jesus and the Good News with those around us—in our families, friend groups, and work-places. But another part of this mission of evangelization is to support the Church, the community of witnesses. We’re currently in the midst of our diocesan Catholic Ministry Appeal. Donate today, and support this vital mission.
Click Here To Support the 2022 Catholic Ministry Appeal
As a Diocese, we continue to join in fervent prayer for peace throughout the world and for an abrupt end to the unjustified attack upon Ukraine. In union with the Holy Father, we call for the immediate cessation of Russia’s armed aggression and unprovoked war on Ukraine that has already exacted a staggering toll – thousands dead and an exodus of three million refugees. We echo the words of Pope Francis, “In the name of God, listen to the cry of those who suffer, and put an end to the bombings and the attacks!”
Similar appeals have been raised throughout the Orthodox Christian world and indeed by many Russians themselves.
An act of consecration to Mary is essentially an act of consecration to Jesus through Mary. As Pope John Paul II explained, “Consecrating ourselves to Mary means accepting her help to offer ourselves and the whole of mankind to him who is holy, infinitely holy” (May 13, 1982).
While there is a long history of consecration to Mary, the practice of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is closely linked to the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. During the third apparition, on July 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, told three visionaries that God sought to establish the devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart in the world in order to save souls from hell and bring about world peace. Pope Francis and previous popes have led various consecrations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, including Pope St. John Paul II’s consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984.
May Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us!
• In addition to our prayers, it is encouraged that financial assistance be offered to the suffering in Ukraine through the organizations found on our website, click here
• To read the statement from the United States Bishops regarding the attack on Ukraine, please click here, Click Here
To read the article from the Vatican about the upcoming as well as prior consecrations, click here.