VOL. 55 NO. 16 – APRIL 19th, 2020 THEME FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER: Thomas believed because he saw the risen

Jesus. Although we have never seen him, we believe in him. We give thanks to the Lord for this gift of faith, especially when we gather for the breaking of the bread and the prayers.

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC MASSES SAID HERE AT ST. AUGUSTINE’S. THE MASS INTENTIONS THAT WERE ALREADY SCHEDULED FOR SPECIFIC DATES, WILL BE

RESCHEDULED AS SOON AS WE CAN. FR. VON DEEKE PLANS TO SAY A PRIVATE MASS EACH DAY FOR ALL PEOPLE, LIVING AND DECEASED.

ST. AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY HECKER, ILLINOIS 62248

REV. VON C. DEEKE, PASTOR PARISH OFFICE 473-2217 FAX 473-9141

E-MAIL ADDRESS: staug@htc.net PARISH WEBSITE: https://www.staugustineofcanterburyhecker.com To contact Father Von when not in Parish Office, Cell #618/214-6852

St. Vincent de Paul Help Line 618/792-4059 House of Neighborly Service Help Line 618/939-8680

Confessions: are heard each Saturday night from 4 to 4:45 pm and each Sunday from 8 to 8:20 am. Parish Office Hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Closed from 12 noon to 1:00 pm for lunch.

For anyone who wishes to have a printed copy of our weekly bulletins, we will be putting copies in plastic

bins at the front & side doors of church and the front door of the

Parish Office. Please help yourself to one!

The bulletins are also posted on our

website!!!

If you wish to have your name added to our Parish Email List,

please let me know via staug@htc.net or 473-2217 & leave a

message.

OUR SACRIFICE MADE TO GOD: 4-12-2020 Sunday Envelopes (55) - $3,895.00 Easter to Date - $700.00

Scholarship Fund - $1,169.00

(Total Donated since 8/1/2019)

Thank you very much for your generosity!

Please pray for the following:

Darlene Frisch, Ellen Daniels, Maxine Linnertz, Alice Krysnoski, Jeanelle Dinan, Marge Abel, Cheryl Zanders, Madalyn Killebrew, Stephanie Amann Stosberg, Brenda Schmitz, June Valentine, Bill Cowell, Angie Parker, Wylma Wachtel, Dave Bruss, and Ruth Cortner. Please call the Parish Office 473-2217 to submit names for the prayer list. We started a new list on January 12th, 2020.

Please save your CRS Rice Bowls that you might have taken at the beginning of Lent and bring back when we are able to

resume Masses at St. Augustine’s. Thank you!

Bishop’s Mass for Wedding Anniversaries June 7, 2020

On Sunday, June 7, 2020 at 1:30 PM Bishop Edward K. Braxton will celebrate a Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter honoring the sacrament of Matrimony. All couples celebrating their Twenty-Fifth, Thirtieth, Fortieth, Fiftieth, as well as, all years from 60 on up, Wedding Anniversaries will be recognized. The Bishop asks all Jubilarians WHO ARE CELEBRATING 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 AND MORE YEARS OF MARRIAGE and/or their family members to send the names and addresses of those celebrating their Jubilee Wedding Anniversary to the Parish Office as soon as possible. If your personal invitation does not arrive, or if you do not send the parish your names, you are still most welcome to attend. Family members and guests are welcome as well. The Cathedral is handicap accessible.

REMINDER – please make sure that all flowers at the St. Augustine Cemetery are attached to the monuments or are in vases attached during the upcoming mowing season (April to October). Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Today’s Gospel is the familiar story of Thomas’s declaration of unbelief in the

Resurrection until “I put my finger in the nail marks.” These kinds of

thoughts often attack the minds of those discerning a religious vocation. They

are seeking that “definite” sign that the path they are pursuing is the right one.

The Lord doesn’t always afford that. Let us pray, often and loudly, for these

discerners that they “hear the call of the Lord” and continue to respond to it.

HAVE YOU HEARD OF SERRA CLUB? The Serra Club of St. Clair County is an organization of

Catholic men and women, dedicated to foster and affirm vocations to the Priesthood and vowed

religious life. Our purpose is to inform our community of the need for all vocations. We honor

our religious with an annual Nuns Luncheon, a Deacon Dinner, a Priest Picnic and a new Priest

Dinner. We pray for our seminarians and help them celebrate their birthdays.

Our club meets every first and third Friday of the month at the Shrine of our Lady of the Snows.

There is a Mass at 11:45am, lunch, a brief meeting, and a guest speaker. You are welcome to

join us as our guest. For more information please contact Marvin Winkeler (402-214-1155) or

Mel Lucash (618-531-4244). PRAY FOR VOCATIONS!

The Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal 2020 …Blessed to receive, chosen to give

A most heartfelt thanks to all those who have responded with a gift to The 2020 Catholic

Service and Ministry Appeal; we are truly grateful. If you have not already done so, there’s

still plenty of time…one-time donations or pledges – in any amount – are needed. Our

seminarians, people served by Catholic Urban Programs, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

and Daystar Community Program, the youngsters at Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School

and 12 other ministries and programs are counting on your support. Donations can be made

through your parish or online at www.diobelle.org. Please consider making your gift today

or at any time in the coming months. Thank you and may God bless you for your

generosity.

Our parish financial target is $4,721.00. Please be as generous as you are able. Pledges to Date: 22 $4,800.00 101% of Total Goal

The Second Glorious Mystery

THE ASCENSION

1. Jesus remains on earth forty days after His Resurrection to prove He

has truly risen from the dead.

2. He commissions the apostles to preach the gospel to every creature,

and promises to be with them forever.

3. He will not leave them orphans, but will send the Holy Spirit to

enlighten and strengthen them.

4. Jesus proceeds to Mt. Olivet accompanied by His Mother and the

apostles and disciples.

5. Extending His pierced hands over all in a last blessing, He ascends

into heaven.

6. As He ascends a cloud takes Him from their sight.

7. Jesus ascends to take His place at the right hand of the Father.

8. What jubilation there must be amid the angels of heaven at the

triumphant entry of Jesus.

9. The wounds in His glorified body are an endless plea before the

Father on our behalf.

10. The disciples leave Mt. Olivet and "return to Jerusalem with great

joy."

Spiritual Fruit: Let us pray that may the Risen Christ bring hope, faith and

love to all, especially those who have suffered any kind of loss during the Lenten

season.

Fellow Parishioners, I hope you all had a Blessed Easter. It was definitely a different Easter, with no one, besides myself, present at the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday morning Masses in church. I hope you were able to watch and pray along with a broadcast or streamed Mass, such as on EWTN, or from Saint Peter Cathedral, Saint Louis Cathedral, or from our neighboring parishes or our own Parish of Saint Augustine. Thanks to those who watched our streamed Masses and sent your greetings to me and to each other. I plan to livestream Sunday Masses from Saint Augustine, in the weeks ahead, at 5PM Saturday and 8:30 AM Sunday, our usual Mass times. I hope you are able to keep in touch with your families, friends, and relatives. For me, my usual Easter get-together with family and relatives was replaced with phone calls with them and others. May we stay close to the Lord in prayer in these weeks ahead. May we also pray for each other and keep in touch as best we can. We remember those who are ill and those in care centers. If there is any way I can help, please let me know. May God bless you all and may we all be able to gather

together again soon, in our church, to praise and worship God. Fr. Von Deeke

Life in Christ

Last week, as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, we were reminded, in our Catechism of the Catholic Church reading, that we are called to follow the example of Jesus in our lives. We are given the power to do so by God the Holy Spirit. We receive forgiveness for the times we fail when we turn to Jesus, asking for mercy. We are called to follow Jesus through this life to eternal life with him in heaven.

This week, let’s see how Jesus calls us to follow him by living the Beatitudes, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1716 The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. The Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of heaven:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. (Matthew chapter 5, verses 3-12)

1717 The Beatitudes depict the countenance [face] of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.

As we remembered in Holy Week, Jesus lived out the Beatitudes all the way to the cross, persecuted for righteousness’ sake. As we rejoice that Jesus has been raised from the dead and as we prepare to celebrate the coming of God the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, let us pray that Jesus and God the Holy Spirit will help us to live the Beatitudes in our lives.

- Fr. Von Deeke

The First Letter of Saint Peter: Here is chapter one of the First Letter of Saint Peter, from which our second reading is taken this Sunday, from the Good News Translation: 1 From Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ - To God's chosen people who live as refugees scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure. 3 Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, 4 and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. 5 They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time. 6 Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. 7 Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express, 9 because you are receiving the salvation of your souls, which is the purpose of your faith in him. 10 It was concerning this salvation that the prophets made careful search and investigation, and they prophesied about this gift which God would give you. 11 They tried to find out when the time would be and how it would come. This was the time to which Christ's Spirit in them was pointing, in predicting the sufferings that Christ would have to endure and the glory that would follow. 12 God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand. 13 So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. 15 Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy. 16 The scripture says, "Be holy because I am holy." 17 You call him Father, when you pray to God, who judges all people by the same standard, according to what each one has done; so then, spend the rest of your lives here on earth in reverence for him. 18 For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold; 19 it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. 20 He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God. 22 Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves and have come to have a sincere love for other believers, love one another earnestly with all your heart. 23 For through the living and eternal word of God you have been born again as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal. 24 As the scripture says, "All human beings are like grass, and all their glory is like wild flowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever." This word is the Good News that was proclaimed to you.

Scripture taken from the Good News Translation – Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society.

Used by Permission