SCRIP NEWS: The SCRIP program is slowly coming back from last year. Thank you to everyone who is diligently buying SCRIP. To urge other people to buy SCRIP, we would like to bring back before and after mass SCRIP sales. If you would be willing to volunteer for a once a month mass of your choice (5:30 or 9:00), please call Mary Droessler at 712-732-6719.

My name is Efrain Gonzalez, and I am a missionary with FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. I grew up in Storm Lake and attended St. Mary's Catholic Church throughout my childhood. I recently graduated from Drake University with an accounting degree. During my time at Drake, I was brought back to my faith and the church through the guidance of a FOCUS missionary. This upcoming year I will be serving at South Dakota school of Mines & Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota in hopes of leading others to Christ as I had been led. Through FOCUS I have the great opportunity to raise 100% of my salary which helps meet my ministry and personal needs. We do this by building a support team of mission partners who consistently support our ministry financially and prayerfully.

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Everyone is welcome to join Fr. Michael on Father's Day 06.20.21 after 9 am and 11 am Mass in the Parish Center for refreshments!

Show your love and appreciate for Father Michael! Send your favorite memory, prayers, or well wishes as Father Michael begins a new chapter of his priesthood journey! Please mail cards to: Father Michael 300 E. Third Street Storm Lake, IA 50588

In our second reading this weekend St. Paul reminds us that “we walk by faith, not by sight.” I think many of us would prefer it the other way around, to know exactly what it is we are doing and where we are headed. Walking by faith takes a whole lot of trust in something other than our own knowledge, skills and abilities.

In the past several days I have fielded some questions and concerns about what is happening to the parish property in Schaller along with individuals saying that things have not been communicated or people have been kept in the dark. I have communicated the process to you several times about how things are handled when a parish closes and merges with another.

Have your heard the exciting news? The tax credit for donations to the Iowa Student Tuition Organizations has been increased to 75%! Your gift to MLTF provides our students with tuition scholarships and your earn a tax credit! Contact your tax advisor or kfoell@stormlakecatholic.com for more information!

Covid Mass Protocols Mass Obligation Beginning on the weekend of June 5-6, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Bishop Nickless will be reimposing the Sunday obligation. According to the Code of Canon Law this means everyone must attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. If a person is sick or homebound, or living/visiting areas of the world where access to the Mass is limited, or a situation arises that prevents travel (snowstorm or flat tire), such persons would not be bound by the obligation. Facemasks · Facemasks are no longer required to be worn at liturgies, parish events, and in parish offices by those who have been fully vaccinated. Those who have been fully vaccinated and wish to continue wearing facemasks as a precaution may continue to do so. · Those who have not been fully vaccinated (age 2 and above) are strongly recommended to continue wearing a facemask at liturgies, parish events, and in parish offices. · Staff who have been fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear facemasks in the office. However, it is strongly recommended that the general non-staff public and office receptionists both wear facemasks when greeting one another.

Help St. Mary's School Raise $10,000 today!

Don't miss the bus! Climb Aboard The Vatican Express with St. Jerome! Dates: June 7-11, 2021 Time: 9:00 - 11:30 AM Location: St. Mary's School Cafeteria Price: $7.50 per child *Masks and social distancing required* Kids will tour the Vatican treasures and learn all about the Holy Father, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square, Sistine Chapel, Swiss Guard, Michelangelo, and more!

SALUD and Hy-Vee will be hosting a Hispanic and Latino Community COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic on Sunday, April 18th at the AEA Building. They will be in the parish hall after the 11 a.m. Mass this Sunday, April 11th to schedule appointments for the clinic. The COVID-19 vaccine is free of charge for everyone, and you do not need to have insurance to get the vaccine. You will receive your first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on April 18th, and a second clinic is scheduled for May 9th, when you will receive your second dose.

We will soon begin using altar servers at our weekend Masses! Since it’s been a year since we’ve used servers, we will be providing some re-training to help prepare our youth for this ministry. To keep the size of the groups manageable, students of St. Mary School will be trained during the school day. Students who attend other area schools may attend either training on Saturday, April 10 at 6pm, or Sunday, April 11 at 9:45 AM. Any student who has completed their First Communion by the end of this school year may sign up to be a server and should attend one of the two server trainings on April 10-11. Please complete the attached registration form and email it to Paula, plindquist@stormlakecatholic.com before you attend the training. If you have a student that no longer wishes to be an altar server, please contact the office so we can remove their name from the roster.

Adjustment to the flow of our lines for Holy Communion. We will continue to use only Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (Priests & Deacons). However we will not distribute to each section of the church at a time as we do now, but will do two sections at once as per the diagram. This will move the communion process forward with a bit more speed while also maintaining safety procedures and reverence. This will likely be our method distributing communion going in the future. This will require less dependence on Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and restore that ministry to what it was intended to be, extra-ordinary.

St. Joseph and Mary will be permanently stored in the parish center. These statues cost $3,000 to repair, restore and repaint. Please help us preserve these beautiful statues. You may drop your donation off in the dropbox in front of the parish office or send your donation to 300 E. Third Street | Storm Lake, IA 50588.

In an effort to help families reduce their out-of-pocket tuition per year or give parishioners an opportunity to help the tuition assistance fund, we are inviting you to a Scrip Informational Event. We will cover how to create an on-line account, how to attach your bank account for payment if you wish, how to download and use the app, and tips and tricks to get the maximum rebate possible. This event will be held at King’s Pointe and we ask that you make reservations to attend one of the sessions below.We will have 4 one-hour sessions so that we can socially distance and masks will be required. Hope to see you there! Please emailscrip@stormlakecatholic.comto sign up for a session. Session dates and times: Sunday, January 17that 1:00 pm Sunday, January 17that 2:00 pm Sunday, February 21stat 1:00 pm Sunday, February 21stat 2:00 pm

Keep our star shining! Join St. Mary’s Ball Chairs Dr. John and Lindsay Armstrong and Colin and Trisha Schmitt on March 6, 2021 for the St. Mary’s Virtual Ball and Charity Auction. Dr. John Armstrong is a general surgeon at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center and Lindsay is an active member of St. Mary’s PTP group. They are parents of three children – Will in second grade, Blair in kindergarten, and Quinn in three-year-old preschool. Colin and Trisha Schmitt join the leadership of the auction this year with Armstrongs and will chair the 2022 event. Colin is a local farmer. Trisha is Vice President of Corporate Marketing at VT Industries. They have three children – Bella in fifth grade, Leo in third grade, and Dylan, two years old. The event is the single largest fundraiser of the year for the local Catholic preK-12 School. This year the event will be held as a virtual event. Follow Storm Lake St. Mary’s School Facebook page for updated event information.

Place orders online, by sending your scrip pouch to school, drop orders off at Rust’s Western Shed, or drop an order form in the locked drop box outside the parish offices.

Attached is the sign up sheet for The Advent Angel Tree that the National Honor Society is sponsoring. We will be picking up the presents at Mass during the weekend of December 12/13. We ask that the presents are not wrapped and they are clearly labeled with family number, age and gender of the recipient. If you would like to drop off the presents early, please drop presents off at the school office.

Join us for the Road to Bethlehem, a journey that includes daily Advent reflections and enrichment from FORMED. We will be sending you handpicked videos, talks, and texts every day throughout Advent to nourish your spiritual life. Sign up today to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus at Christmas!