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!

11 CHANCES TO WIN CASH! 1 - $5,000 cash 4 - $1,000 prizes 4 - $500 prizes Purchase your tickets before December 31, 2020 to be entered into the early bird drawing - two lucky winners will win $2,000! All drawings will be Saturday, March 6, 2021. *Winner is responsible for all taxes and fees.

Please look at the updated Mass protocols.

Last spring, we began to address our worn-out liturgical vessels and items used for the Sacred Liturgy, mindful that we owe the Lord our very best when it comes to the celebration of Mass. I have claimed several items from the liturgical inventory of the diocese from closed and merged churches. These vessels need some extra attention and care due to their age and use. It is time to give them new life and a new use. I currently have them at Koley’s in Omaha awaiting restoration and re-plating. I’d ask you to consider adopting one or more of these vessels so that the work may begin and we can then in turn use them during liturgical celebrations here at St. Mary’s. Thank you for your consideration and generosity. If you have any questions, please let me know. -Father Lingle

St. Mary's Ball & Charity Auction
Saturday, March 6, 2021 More information to come.

This past year was a successful appeal year, even given the difficult circumstances with Covid-19, and that is due to the support of the faithful in Northwest Iowa. We are still unsure about how the future will look, as we continue to cope with changes in our lives due to the pandemic, but one thing is for sure: we always have our Catholic faith! 2020 St. Mary's Goal: $47,355

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 7AM - 6PM East center doors will be open for private prayer. *There will be sanitizer on the table in the front entrance, please sanitize after you pray. Thank you!

Jon Hartje and Matt Tennyson are two of our RCIA candidates who joined the Catholic Church this Saturday, August 29.

- Parents who serve as lead Catechists in classrooms by making a weekly commitment to the program will receive a discount for their child(ren)’s tuition. Catechists are expected to be active Catholics who attend weekly Mass and live in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Please contact Kathleen Eckerman if you would like more information on volunteering. - School of Faith classes will begin September 16. Payment in full is required before children may attend - A copy of each registered child’s birth certificate and baptismal certificate should be given to the Director of Faith Formation before the first night of classes on September 16, 2020 Deadline for Registration - September 11, 2020

Are you interested in knowing more about the Catholic Church’s faith or teachings? Beginning September 1, these classes will be on Tuesdays from 6:00-7:30PM in St. Mary’s Parish Center. Face masks will be worn and social distancing practices will be observed. Classes in Spanish are also available. If you have questions or wish to register, please call the office at 732-3110

The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” It is once again time for us to seriously engage the pastoral planning process in the Diocese of Sioux City and our parish grouping. As your pastor, and as the former Director of Pastoral Planning for the diocese, I understand that this is inevitable and difficult for all of us. The process of change and adjusting to new realities will be painful. Change is never easy, yet it is a necessary part of life. (READ MORE)

We are going to begin a gradual resumption of public Masses on the weekend of July 18-19 and slowly return to “normal” in the following weeks. Remember, the protocols for public liturgies will be in place from the Diocese of Sioux City.