FATHER JIM'S JOTS - St. Elizabeth Church - Palm Sunday - April 13, 2025

 St. Elizabeth Church

Palm Sunday

April 13, 2025

FATHER JIM'S JOTS

Greetings!

Blessings on this Palm Sunday

"We adore you, oh Christ and we praise you; because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the World!"

We have now begun our HOLY WEEK.  This special week, my prayer for the parishioners and friends of Saint Elizabeth is to spend time together and participate in the Holy Triduum.  A few things to make note of is that there will be NO weekday Masses on Wednesday or Friday this week; there will be Stations of the Cross on Friday, 4/18/25, at 12 p.m.; there will be Confessions on Saturday, 4/19/25 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and that there will only be ONE Sunday Mass on Easter Sunday (4/20/25) at 9 a.m.

On Monday all priests of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond are asked to attend the Chrism Mass at 6 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.  All of the faithful are invited to attend as well.  Bishop Knestout will bless the new oils for the Sacraments of the Church used throughout the year.  The sacred oils are the Oils for the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumens (will be carried into church by Gorette Mukankaka and her family who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night at 8 p.m.) and the Oil of Sacred Chrism (will be carried into church by Dianna Hopkins and family who will receive the sacrament of Holy Eucharist and Confirmation.)  At Monday's Chrism Mass, the priests will also renew and declare our promises of obedience to the Bishop of Richmond.

We as a parish community and nation need this Holy Week to turn more closely to Christ and follow His example of loving God and our neighbor.

Prayers for a Blessed Holy Week,

Fr. Jim, Pastor

~ Image Source 

Palm Sunday at St. Elizabeth Church - Children processing to Children's Liturgy - April 13, 2025 ~ Photos by Cathy Woodson

 St. Elizabeth Church

Palm Sunday

April 13, 2025

Children Processing to Children's Liturgy

(Click photos to enlarge)

~ Photos by Cathy Woodson 

FATHER JIM'S JOTS - St. Elizabeth Church - Fifth Sunday of Lent - April 6, 2025

St. Elizabeth Church

Fifth Sunday of Lent

April 6, 2025

FATHER JIM'S JOTS

Greetings!

This Sunday marks the last week before Holy Week!  Holy Week starts on Sunday, April 13th (Palm Sunday) and concludes with our Easter Celebrations.  Below my jot for this week is the schedule for Holy Week.  A few things to make note of is that there will be NO weekday Masses on Wednesday or Friday of that week, there will be Stations of the Cross on Friday, 4/18/25 at 12 p.m., there will be Confessions on Saturday, 4/19/25 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and that there will only be ONE Sunday Mass on Easter (4/20/25) at 9 a.m.

The following words are from Karen Yesolitis' monthly report to St. Michael's in Glen Allen, our sister parish.  Each month she sends to St. Mike's what is happening at St. Elizabeth's for them to promote on their website.

"The first phase of the Capital Campaign for Tomorrow concluded when Lent began.  Thanks to generous donations and pledges, the building of a new Parish Center will proceed and include classrooms, office and meeting spaces.  With the estimated cost of $2.2 million, St. Elizabeth parish will continue the Campaign to increase donations.

The Saturday School Math and Literacy program ended on March 8.  Thirty-five students from Pre-K to 12th grade attended the largest Spring session ever.  Every student has their own mentors who come from 13 different high schools and two colleges.  The program now includes four teachers and one pediatric nurse.

The RISC Nehemiah Action annual meeting was held on March 25.  St. Elizabeth is one of 27 faith communities seeking commitment from Richmond Mayor Avula for affordable housing, mobile home repairs and reducing gun violence.  There were 2,225 in attendance, including 109 parishioners from St. Elizabeth Church.

A Lenten Retreat was held on March 29.  The theme was "Hope" going along with the 2025 Jubilee Year.  Speakers' topics were "The Practice of Hope"  presented in the morning and "Mystical Hope" in the afternoon.  The retreat included lunch and Communal Reconciliation Service."

Lenten Blessings,

Fr. Jim, Pastor

Holy Week Schedule

Palm Sunday (April 13th): 8:30am Mass & 10am Mass

Chrism Mass (April 14th): 6pm Mass at the Cathedral

Holy Thursday (April 17th): 7pm Mass

Good Friday (April 18th): 12pm Traditional Stations of the Cross,

7pm Good Friday Service

Holy Saturday (April 19th): 12pm Confessions,

8pm Easter Vigil Mass

Easter Sunday (April 20th): 9am Mass

There will only be ONE Mass at 9am on Sunday, April 20th, Easter Sunday.

~ Image Source 

Stations of the Cross - St. Elizabeth Church - Justice Ministry Group - Friday, April 4, 2025 ~ Photo by Anne Gibbons

Stations of the Cross

St. Elizabeth Church

Justice Ministry Group

Friday, April 4, 2025

Justice Ministry Group and Others

Stations of the Cross: Overcoming Racism

~ Stations adapted by USCCB, March 2020

  

FATHER JIM'S JOTS - St. Elizabeth Church - Laetare Sunday - Fourth Sunday of Lent - March 30, 2025

St. Elizabeth Church

Laetare Sunday

Fourth Sunday of Lent

March 30, 2025

FATHER JIM'S JOTS

Greetings!

This past Thursday we held a Parish Council meeting.  I would like to share the topics and information that was discussed below.

Update on Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) Affordable Housing Building Project.

 We have received confirmation from CCC that the project is set to move forward and groundbreaking will take place within the next two months. There will be a groundbreaking ceremony that St. Elizabeth Parish will collaborate with CCC to execute.  It was planned for the complex to be named "St. Elizabeth Apartments" but to avoid confusion of ownership, the team has decided to adopt a new name that has not been chosen at this moment.

Update on Haiti Collection Envelopes:

For the past few years, we have been giving a $750 monthly contribution to our twinning partner Beyond Borders.  (For those who are interested in learning more about the work that Beyond Borders does, please see the information on the info sessions on April 2nd in this Bulletin.)  It has been approved to have a once monthly collection for our Haiti fund that is starting to be depleted.  Envelopes will be available with the Hospitality Ministers and the collection will be held on the 3rd Sunday of every month starting after Easter.

Update on the New Parish Center Building Project:

Our next meeting with the Diocesan Building and Renovations Commission (BARC) is scheduled for April 10th.  The costs of the building have increased; the current expected cost is 2.2 million and we will have 2.4 million provided that outstanding pledges from the Capital Campaign are paid on.  As long as our current schedule remains the same, we expect to have contracts signed and permits issued over the summer and break ground for construction in September of this year.

Update on Jazz Festival:

There was a unanimous decision by the Parish Council to not hold a Jazz Festival this year.  This decision was made because CCC will start construction in the lot behind the church no later than end of June and we will break ground for the Parish Center in September.  Parish Council has suggested to hold only the raffle that usually accompanies the festival, but what that will look like has not yet been decided upon.  We are looking forward to having a Jazz Festival in 2026 once the building construction is completed.

Lenten Blessings,

Fr. Jim, Pastor

~ Image Source

"I Bring My Whole Self!" - Sr. Thea Bowman Conference - March 29, 2025 ~ Photos and Commentary by Abby Causey, Executive Director, Virginia Catholics for Racial Justice

 "I Bring My Whole Self" 

Sr. Thea Bowman Conference

Catholic University of America

March 29, 2025

Virginia Catholics for Racial Justice sponsored a bus for 45 people from parishes across the Diocese of Richmond to attend the Sr. Thea Bowman Conference at the Catholic University of America.  Attendees gathered to celebrate the life of Sr. Thea and [...] the 35th Anniversary of her "going home like a shooting star."

(Click photos to enlarge)

Parishioners from the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk, Holy Family in Virginia Beach, Immaculate Conception in Hampton, Saint Therese in Chesapeake and Holy Rosary and Saint Elizabeth's in Richmond.

Conference attendees gathered to hear 3 panels speak on the life of Sr. Thea.

Fr. Maurice Nutt, keynote speaker.

Sr. Thea Bowman was Fr. Nutt's mentor, teacher and "Spiritual Mama".  He is the author of her biography, Thea Bowman: Faithful and Free.

Members of the Howard University Gospel Choir performed for the conference.

Photos and Commentary by Abby Causey

Executive Director

Virginia Catholics for Racial Justice

www.verj.net