Saint Gerald Catholic Church

Men's Club Trunk or Treat

Come join us on Thursday, October 28th in the St. Gerald school parking lot from 6:30-8:30pm (7859 Lakeview St). We are looking for more trunks to provide treats.

If your ministry or group would like to sponsor a trunk, please contact the parish office, 402-331-1955.

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Exposition on All Hallows' Eve

On Sunday, October 31st, All Hallows' Eve, we will be gathering at St. Gerald's on 96th and Q @ 2 PM, for a Holy Hour with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament along with the Rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet. Halloween has unfortunately become a secular holiday; however, it has its foundation in Catholic tradition. "Hallow" means "holy" and "e'en" is a shortened version of "evening". In other words, Halloween is the eve of the day when we, as Catholics, celebrate the lives of the saints and their triumph over sin and death. Please join us as we unite ourselves with Our Lady and the saints in prayer for the protection and healing of our nation and our families. All children who attend are invited to wear saints' costumes. Please invite family and friends for this prayer gathering.

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Solemnity of All Saints & All Souls

Normally a separate Holy Day of Obligation, but since All Saints Day falls on Monday this year, it will not be considered a Holy Day of Obligation. We will have our regular Monday mass schedule.
6:45am - Lakeview Chapel
12:15pm - 96th & Q

All Souls Mass will be held on Tuesday, November 2nd at 7pm, 96th & Q St. Special guests will be those whose loved ones had funerals at St. Gerald's this year (10/3/20-10/15/21). All parishioners are invited to attend. (Mask optional) For more information, please call the business office 402-331-1955.

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Fr. Mark's School of Prayer

In Lk. 11:1 one of Jesus's disciples said, "Lord, teach us how to pray just as John taught his disciples." If you would like to know more about prayer and the interior life and how you can know the Lord more personally, then please join Fr. Mark on Saturday, November 6th at 9am at the Lakeview Chapel. Please bring your journal and pen.

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Archbishop's Annual Appeal

Our gifts to the 2021/22 Archbishop's Annual Appeal bear witness to God's love at work in our lives. Thank you to all those at our parish who have responded so generously to Archbishop Lucas' invitation to join him in the work of equipping disciples and living mercy. Please prayerfully consider supporting this year's Archbishop Annual Appeal.
Donate Now

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Deacon George Butterfield is joining the parish staff!

Deacon George was raised in a Protestant church and served as a pastor from 1972-2002. He and Debra were married and have three children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Deacon George became Catholic in 2003 and Debra in 2009. St. Gerald was George's second parish as a Catholic and nurtured him while encouraging him to enter the permanent diaconate program. The warmth and love of this parish from 2007-2017 also helped lead Debra into the Catholic Church. After four years of doing missionary work in Oklahoma (!), the Butterfields are happy to be home.

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New Tabernacle Location

We have some exciting news! Thanks to a few of our generous parishioners who were willing to cover the cost of this minor construction, our beautiful tabernacle at 96th and Q has a new resting place just behind our main altar underneath the crucifix.

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Healing was at the very core of the life and mission of Jesus. As his disciples, it is our calling to carry on that same mission. If you feel called to the healing ministry and would like to learn more about it, please consider registering for the newly-opened Encounter School of Ministry on the campus located in nearby Springfield at Ablaze Ministries. For more information go to encounterschool.org/omaha/. For even more details regarding Encounter Ministries School of Ministry you can also go to their website at encounterministries.us.

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Masks Optional

Beginning the weekend of June 5 & 6 the wearing of masks at all Masses will be optional. The Fellowship Hall, however, will be reserved during Masses for mask wearers only who would rather not be in an area with others who have no masks. The requirement to wear masks or not for all other church gatherings will be left up to the discretion of each group and their leadership.

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What is a Nazareth Group?

To express your interest in joining a group or to find out more click here to go to https://www.nazarethgroups.com/.

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Pray For Priestly Vocations

This year, unfortunately, we had no young men ordained to the priesthood for the archdiocese of Omaha. Please pray that more young men will hear and respond to God's call to the priesthood.

PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS (by Pope St. John Paul II)
Jesus, our Good Shepherd, bless all our parishes with numerous priests, deacons, men and women in religious life, consecrated laity and missionaries, according to the needs of the entire world, which you love and wish to save. Assist our pastors and all who live a consecrated life. Guide the steps of those who have responded generously to your call and are preparing to receive Holy Orders or to profess vows. Look with love on young people and call them to follow you. Help them to understand that in you alone can they attain complete fulfillment. To this end we call on the powerful intercession of Mary, Mother and model of all vocations. We beseech you to sustain our faith that the Father will grant what you command us to ask. Amen.

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From Our Pastor - A Future Full Of Hope

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the Lord, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the Lord, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you (Jer. 29:11-14).

Written by the prophet Jeremiah, this was God's love letter to the nation of Israel-a nation in crisis very much like our own nation today. Like our own nation, it was a suffering nation- a nation under siege and in exile, cut off from loved ones, from a country they once knew and cherished, and from all that was close and dear to their hearts. Like many of us, they were a nation whose future was uncertain and they were beginning to lose all hope.

As a contemporary evangelist once said, "we may not know what our future holds, but as believers we do know Who holds our future". We know that God has a plan for our welfare and not for woe. Let us take time out of our busy days to call on Him and pray to Him. Let us take comfort in knowing that when we look for Him with all our heart we will find Him and He will change our lot. God's message to Israel is a message for all of us and for all humanity. It is a message of restoration and of hope. God's promise of restoration, however, is not merely a restoration to "normal", but something far greater. It is a restoration to a peace and a hope that only God can give us. It is a restoration to a whole new life in and with Christ. A life of profound joy and true freedom. A life that our world and its leaders promise to give us, but fail to deliver time and time again.

My hope and my prayer for all of us is that as we look to the future, let us first look to the present and find that God is with us. And, come hell or high water, that it is in Him and Him alone that we will find a future full of hope.

In Christ our Hope,
Fr. Mark

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Eucharistic Adoration

Would you pray about committing to 1 hour of Adoration weekly, between Wednesdays at 8 PM and Thursdays at 11:59 PM? You can go to the link below if you'd like to commit to a weekly hour of prayer before Jesus in the Eucharist.

SIGN UP FOR ADORATION

We will notify you when we have all the hours filled and are able to begin exposition for these times on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Although our Eucharistic Lord is not always exposed in the monstrance, He is in the tabernacle 24/7. You are always welcome to come pray in the chapel at 96th and Q. To find out how to get the code for the chapel doors (west doors), please contact the parish office at 402-331-1955.

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Live Adoration Broadcasts

Here are a few adoration LIVE STREAM links to help you with continuing your hour of adoration. God will honor your love for his Eucharistic Heart.

• Live Adoration at the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius, Lithuania
• Live Adoration on EWTN Poland
• Live Adoration at Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore
• Live Adoration from Tyburn Convent
• Live Adoration at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Doral, Florida

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Welcome Jenny Wiswell!

Jenny Wiswell is a native northeast Nebraskan, and after spending her studying years in south Texas and Indiana, has called Omaha her home for the past 14 years. She and her husband Travis have been married for almost two decades and share the crazy adventure of raising and loving their five daughters together. After meeting Jesus more deeply as a young college student, the Lord gave Jenny a heart to spend her life leading others to him.

Jenny has taught high school theology, then served in campus ministry, chaplaincy, and RCIA ministry in Indiana during her formation to receive her Divinity degree. In Omaha, she has served as the Director of Adult Formation at St. Vincent de Paul Church from 2006-2012, and after a call to homeschool her girls, returned to ministry part time at St. Vincent in Evangelization and as the Director of Alpha the past three years.

Jenny has been amazed to witness the power of the Holy Spirit in bringing transformation and healing to a Church and world in need and is very excited to join St. Gerald in the mission to make disciples. She will begin her ministry here in January 2021 as a part-time Coordinator of Discipleship and Evangelization. Come Holy Spirit!

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Welcome Deacon Rick and Debby Melrose!

Deacon Rick is a native of Southern California, his wife Debby is a native of Illinois. Rick joined the Navy in 1969, serving on active duty for 22 years, retiring in 1991. During his first assignment to the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois, he met, dated and married Debby on August 18, 1973 in St Anastasia Catholic Church, Waukegan, Illinois. Rick and Debby have 4 children and 11 grandchildren, and are currently guardians of their nephew, Nick, after the death of Debby's sister in 2018.

Their time in the Navy took them overseas to Iwakuni, Japan and Gaeta, Italy, as well as assignments in Great Lakes, IL, Camp Pendleton, CA, Washington, DC and San Diego, CA. Following retirement from the Navy, the couple and their children remained in San Diego, CA. Rick's post-military career involved administration of dental insurance benefits for military families. After retirement from their civilian careers, they relocated to Bellevue, NE in 2017 to be closer to family in Nebraska and Chicago.

Following a very powerful Men's Cursillo experience in 1994, Rick and Debby began serving on many subsequent semi-annual Cursillo weekends in the mountains of Julian, CA, serving in a variety of positions over the course of the next 22 years. During this period, Rick discerned a call to the ordained life and in 2003, was accepted into formation for the Permanent Diaconate Program in the Diocese of San Diego. Debby joined him in his ministries and completed the same academic curriculum during the 5 year formation program. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon on June 6th, 2008 @ St Margaret's Catholic Church in Oceanside, CA by Bishop Robert Brom. During his formation, Rick spent a year each serving as a hospital chaplain intern, a hospice chaplain intern, a homeless shelter chaplain intern and a jail chaplain. Rick discovered a special fondness for serving the incarcerated and following his ordination, continued to serve as a Catholic Chaplain for the San Diego County Woman's Detention and Reentry Facility as well as the Boys Juvenile Detention Facility and the San Diego County Men's jail.

Rick and Debby were also involved in parish life with Debby starting and leading a MOMS (Mothers of Ministry Sharing) for 5 years in their home parish of Guardian Angels in Santee, CA . They also taught classes together including Baptism Prep, High School Confirmation and Theology of the Body for Teens. Deacon Rick is also a Third Degree Knights of Columbus member. The couple just completed the Intro to Discipleship program at St Gerald. They look forward to meeting and working with all of the parishioners.

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Should Catholics Receive a Vaccination for COVID-19?

Several parishioners are asking what the Church's position is on receiving the current vaccinations. Here are some good articles for your consideration.

• US bishops approve use of coronavirus vaccines with remote connection to abortion
• Should Catholics Receive a COVID-19 Vaccine?

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Article Suggestions from Father Mark

- Our Lady of America Warned Us
- Understanding the Coronavirus
- Coronavirus Proof Your Home
- Quarantine: The Call to a Deeper Spirituality to the Desert
- Fatima and the Necessity of Suffering
- What Does the Lord Want to Teach Me During This Crisis?
- I Cried When Mass Was Cancelled
- Are Sundays a Day Off for Lent?
- How To Rescue Souls
- Discipleship vs. Volunteer
- Renewing the Priesthood Involves Spiritual Warfare

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Prayer for Family Formation

Prayer for Family Formation in Every Part of Our Parish
Dear Lord, you have always been faithful to us and have always guided our parish to know, love and serve you. You call us to be Disciples who actively share their faith with others. Strengthen the gifts of the Holy Spirit in each of us as we seek to help our families become the primary place of religious formation. We give you thanks for the fruit that has come from Family Formation. Bless all our efforts this coming year especially as we move the Family Formation model into our school and as we begin YDisciple among our youth. Encourage us as we move in this new direction and keep our hearts tuned to your will. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Vision
Encountering Jesus · Making Disciples · Transforming Lives

Mission
Led by the Holy Spirit, we are a Catholic community of faith whose primary purpose is to know Jesus, to love Him, and to serve Him in serving others. Sent to make disciples, we invite and welcome everyone to come and share our Master's joy.

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