Parish News

Holy Week Mass Schedule/Charitable Giving/Spiritual Communion

Holy Week Mass Schedule

Holy Week will begin at Saint Thomas Aquinas with the live streamed celebration of Palm Sunday Mass with Blessing of Palms on Sunday, April 5 at 10 am.  Blessed Palm will be available after the celebration of the Mass on the front porch of the Parish Office.  A few bottles of Holy Water are still available on the front porch, as well.

The Masses of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week will also be live streamed from The Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel each day at 10 am.

The Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be live streamed Holy Thursday, April 9, beginning at 7 pm.

The Good Friday Celebration of the Passion of the Lord will be live streamed from Saint Joseph Cathedral, Friday, April 10 at Noon, and The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night will be live streamed from the Cathedral beginning at 8:00 pm on Holy Saturday, April 11.

Saint Thomas Aquinas’s own celebration of Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord will be celebrated April 12 at 10 am, lived streamed from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel.

We will continue to update you about further liturgical and devotional developments as we continue in this uncertain time.

CHARITABLE GIVING  

Since we are not able to be present for Holy Mass, there will not be an opportunity for a collection during these Sundays.  

I want to thank those who have continued their weekly contributions by dropping them off through the mail slot in the front door of the Parish Office and those who have mailed them in each week.   

Also, thank you to those who give to Saint Thomas Aquinas by way of Electronic Funds Transfer and Bill Pay through your financial institution. 

If you are not currently using EFT or Bill Pay through your bank, might I suggest this as a convenient option for you? 

• Call Becky Howard, our Parish Office Manager, by April 9^th to sign up for continuous or one-time Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). 
• You can arrange Bill Pay through your bank.  This is usually offered as a one-time payment or recurring payments. 
• Another new option for charitable giving to our parish has been set up through the Diocese of Columbus.  Simply go to https://www.columbuscatholic.org/make-a-gift-now to select either a one-time or recurring gift with a credit card or bank account.  The Diocese has graciously offered this temporary service to all parishes and schools within the diocese to aid in offertory collections at no charge.  Select St. Thomas Aquinas Church (Zanesville) as your designated parish and all funds will be forwarded to us.  

We are working to provide other convenient means for you to continue your charitable giving to Saint Thomas Aquinas during these uncertain times.   

You will notice at the top or our parish Facebook page a link to Amazon Smile.  By going to our Facebook page, clicking on the Amazon Smile link and then proceeding to the Amazon webpage to make your online purchases, Saint Thomas will receive 0.5 % return on all your eligible purchases. That’s 50 cents on every $100 purchase!  We are not encouraging you to shop on Amazon, but if you are already utilizing their services, you can benefit our parish. 

In the coming weeks you will be hearing of other new and convenient ways to contribute to the financial support of Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish. 

An Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love You above all things., and I desire to receive You into my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace You as if You were already there

And unite myself wholly to You.

Never permit me to be separated from You.

Amen.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Letter from Father Sullivan

March 28, 2020

“Give me justice, O God, and plead my cause against a nation that is faithless. From the deceitful and cunning rescue me, for you, O God, are my strength.” Psalm 43;1-2

Dear Friends,

There has been a flurry of activity these past few days here at Saint Thomas Aquinas, even as we have experienced the first week of the Parish Office’s temporary closure and parish staff are working from home.
We have been surveying the internet for resources to share with you as we all experience this time away from one another and as families spend more time than usual together. Several initiatives have begun consisting of the online CCD course and making holy water available to those who stop by the front porch of the Parish Center. We will inform you of more we are planning. Don’t forget to check our parish website and Facebook page for all updates and opportunities.

I’ve spoken to many folks by phone and have been touched by the emails and cards from parishioners and friends pledging their prayers and support for me and for all our community as we journey through this unusual experience.

The project that has taken up the most of our thoughts this week has been the consideration of live streaming Sunday Mass from Saint Thomas Aquinas. I want to thank Mike Morris and Doug Baker, Alainna Durfee and Keri Daily for their help in making this happen. I must confess, I am rather hesitant about the prospect of going “live,” but the opportunity to be connected to our parishioners in this digital manner has caused me to set aside my qualms to try it and see the response and the result. You may join us tomorrow morning, Sunday March 29, at 10:00 am, by accessing our Facebook page through our website by clicking on the Facebook icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Dr. Hoffman will be here to serve. Since we cannot use the church, and I didn’t like the idea of using the gym for such a small and “private” gathering, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel in the Parish Center–the old Sister’s chapel–where we have been celebrating Daily Mass since the closure of the church, will serve as the most appropriate place for us to offer the Holy Sacrifice using this method.

I participated in the Diocese Day of Prayer and Penance on Friday by spending the day mostly alone in quiet prayer. The quiet was interrupted by the Pope’s Urbi et Orbi ceremony and Blessing from Saint Peter’s Square broadcast on EWTN. I was particularly moved by the emptiness of the Square, the Pope’s own fragility and the austere setting of an empty piazza and basilica. That Italy and Rome has been struck so hard by this virus was so powerfully demonstrated.

I hope you will join me for Mass in the morning as I offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the glory of God, the redemption of the world, the forgiveness of our sins and for your intentions and the end of this terrible pandemic. Together we will look toward the Lord who comes to save us in this hour and share with us the fulness of his life and love.

All the angels and saints will be there. I hope you will be there, too!

From my heart to yours, in the hearts of Jesus and Mary—
Peace and blessing,

Father Sullivan.

The Mass Live Streamed/Holy Water

The Mass Live Streamed 

We will attempt to live stream Mass on the Saint Thomas Aquinas Facebook Page for the Fifth Sunday of Lent on Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 10 am, from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel in the Parish Center.  You can link to our Facebook Page below:

https://www.facebook.com/stthomaszanesville/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARBdDt-K7uYgRUjb6IFmAOdY135Ru6mbACWKPtNiy6IwAJY3n-WgvbvKjDdVsguR8fqQrcZLhZn_O0G6

If you are Not a Facebook member the video will be posted to the Saint Thomas Aquinas YouTube Channel beginning the afternoon of Monday, March 30, 2020. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD8X1E7SEWK8pyM7XYtY8-w/

Holy Water Available 

Also, Father Sullivan has blessed Holy Water for your prayerful use at home.  The Holy Water is in small bottles in a large basket on the front porch of the Parish Office.  You are welcome to drop by and take a bottle with you.

The Forgiveness of Sins during this Pandemic

Bishop Brennan Prayer

Updates for Church Roof Restoration, 40 Days 40 Cans, Parish Office Closing and Latest Letter from Bishop Brennan

Please click below for an update regarding the roof restoration.

Roof Restoration

Please click below for an update regarding the Parish Office closing

Parish Office Closing

Please click below for an update regarding 40 Days/40 Cans

40 Cans

Please click below for an update from Bishop Brennen

A Letter to the Faithful from Bishop Brennan II

A Letter from Bishop Brennan

To the Faithful of the Diocese of Columbus 

Dear Friends in Jesus and Our Blessed Lady, 

As you well know much has changed around us in the week since I wrote.  Governor DeWine has asked us to maintain a practice of ‘social distancing’ to contain the spread of disease.  His request is wise and I deeply appreciate his respect for religious worship.  I would put it this way – these trying times call for extreme charity.  For the sake of the weakest and most vulnerable, we must all act in a way to contain the virus.  At the same time, we need to offer our prayers and assistance as best as we can.  

The bishops of Ohio met yesterday by telephone and together we are granting a dispensation to all Catholics in Ohio for the next three Sundays (3/15, 3/22, 3/29).  To the best of our ability parish pastors and administrators will maintain current Mass schedules, but this is predicated on the availability of our priests – particularly those whose health may become compromised – so it may become necessary tp change Mass schedules in our parishes. Should this be the case for your parish, I ask for your understanding and flexibility recognizing that these are extraordinary times.  Please check your parish schedule regularly to make sure that the Mass you want to attend is, in fact, being celebrated at the time you are accustomed.  It is essential for us that the Mass be offered.  That said, I urge all those who are ill, those who might carry the coronavirus or any contagious virus for that matter, and those whose health is compromised by age or other medical conditions, to please to stay home.  In a spirit of charity, I also encourage you please to consider carefully your decision to attend Mass and that it might be prudent to stay at home during this time.  I remind you that St. Gabriel Radio (AM 820 in Central Ohio, FM 88.3 in Southern Ohio and www.stgabrielradio.com on the web) broadcasts Mass from St. Joseph’s Cathedral (AM Radio) and St. Mary’s in Portsmouth (FM Radio) on Sunday mornings at 10:30 AM.  Sunday Masses are also viewable on both WWHO-TV Columbus and WHIZ-TV Zanesville in addition to other cable stations. 

Most parish, school and diocesan meetings and activities have been cancelled.  The hours will be modified for our Diocesan Pastoral Center in downtown Columbus.  Please watch your parish website as well as the diocesan website, www.columbuscatholic.org for updates.  If there is a doubt, you should presume cancellation.  In all honesty I cannot predict future cancellations beyond Easter, including First Communions and Confirmations, but we need to be prepared for all possibilities.  

We are not in retreat mode by any standard.  In fact, your priests and I desire to serve you all the more fervently.  Similarly, as Catholics we want to serve the poor and vulnerable even more.  We need to imagine new ways to achieve this in order to protect the health and well-being of the very people we desire to serve.  Clearly, the situation changes daily and we will try to remain in contact.  The Diocesan website will contain a special page with resources for information and prayer.  These will include possible resources for families to use on Sundays.   

Above all, we must be instruments of hope in the Lord.  In his message for the World Day of the Sick (2/11/2020) reminds of the tender gaze of Jesus who, himself became frail, endured human suffering and received comfort from his Father.  Let’s be strong in our prayer for one another, especially for the sick, their caregivers, those in the medical professions and those entrusted with the charge of care for public health.  Be sure of my prayers and deep concern for you.  

Sincerely in Christ, 

Bishop Brennan