HOLY CROSS UPDATE

Dear friends in Christ,

It has been very cold out this week, with schools closed and Services cancelled on Wednesday. I know that I really missed celebrating the Holy Eucharist and receiving Holy Communion on Wednesday. John Wesley received the Sacrament of Holy Communion twice a week from the year he was ordained until the year he died. He couldn't live without it. The Blessed Sacrament is God's great gift to his children. There is no better way to foster a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In the Holy Eucharist time and eternity, heaven and earth come together, and past is made present. The Holy Eucharist begins in the Upper Room where Jesus instituted it, but does not end there. It continues on taking us to Mount Calvary and Christ's sacrificial death upon the cross for our redemption where we re-plead the one oblation of himself once offered, and then go on to commemorate Christ's resurrection and his ascension. In the Prayer of Consecration we pray, "we, thy humble servants, do celebrate and make here before thy Divine Majesty, with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy Son hath commanded us to make; having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; rendering unto thee most hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same."

The Holy Eucharist is the center and summit of our spirituality. Remembering our Lord's teaching recorded in chapter six of St. John's Gospel we pray, "Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen." 

It is always tragic when Christians who know their Faith and have experienced the sacramental life absent themselves from the Eucharist. Yes, we can pray at home and we must pray at home, but at his Last Supper Jesus commanded his apostles to "do this," the Holy Eucharist, in remembrance of him. Jesus said that without the Eucharist we have no life in us (John 6). The Eucharist has always been, from the beginning of Christianity, the center and summit of Christian spirituality: the Lord's people in the Lord's house on the Lord's Day to celebrate and partake of the Lord's Supper. When we begin to absent ourselves from the Sunday Eucharist we begin to grow weak spiritually. We either repent and return to the Blessed Sacrament or we eventually fall away from the Faith. Many fall away, but only those who finish the race receive the crown.

While the commandments to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and our neighbor as ourself are the two greatest commandments, the fourth commandment of the Decalogue is critical to our spiritual lives. No matter what we are doing, no matter what sins may have entangled us, if we continue to attend the Holy Eucharist each and every Sunday we will hear God's Word read and then explained by the priest, will hear an invitation to repent of sin and make a general confession, and if truly repentant will have an opportunity to answer a real altar call and to kneel before the altar and receive Christ back into our lives through the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us."

We don't go to church on Sunday. The church is not merely a building. The word church means, congregation, assembly, community. We are the church. We are the family of God, and we come together in the Lord's house on the Lord's Day to partake of the Lord's Supper. As members of a local congregation, a local church family, we have responsibilities to one another — to love and serve one another. The local parish is a school of charity, a school of love, where we learn to love, serve and value one another, warts and all. Our attitude toward our local church should be, to paraphrase John F. Kennedy, Ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church.

The Sunday Eucharist is really the minimum to keep us alive spiritually, but if we really want to grow in discipleship and holiness we need to receive the Blessed Sacrament frequently. At Holy Cross parish we celebrate the Holy Eucharist three times every week, and one week of the month we celebrate it four times. It is possible to receive Holy Communion frequently at Holy Cross parish. Jesus says, "Come unto me all ye that travail [labour] and are heavy laden [weary] and I will refresh you" (Matt. xi. 28). We hear those words of Christ every time we gather to celebrate the Holy Eucharist. We celebrate the Holy Eucharist every Wednesday at 12:10 PM and every Thursday morning at 7:00 AM. The Wednesday Eucharist concludes at 12:50 PM and the Thursday Eucharist at 7:40 AM. The Wednesday Eucharist can be attended over the lunch hour and the Thursday Eucharist will end in time for you to get to work by 8:00 AM. Leave right after receiving Holy Communion if you must, but come. Receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the midst of a busy week will change your life. Come and be blessed!

This Sunday our music director will be back and our choir and Gregorian chant returns to the Eucharistic Liturgy. There is nothing as close to heaven on earth as a sung Eucharist.

A big thank you to Hannah F. for updating our parish website. Do be sure to share our website address with others. We have a great one! It is an easy way to reach out and introduce people to Holy Cross parish. Do the work of an evangelist! Our website address is: www.holycrossomaha.net

This Sunday I will be teaching on the anti-christ in our adult Christian Education class. We will look at every verse of Scripture that mentions the anti-christ. If you have ever wondered what the Bible teaches on this topic you will have an opportunity to learn all about it as we "rightly divide the word of truth." Class begins at 9:00 AM. Invite your friends and plan to be there!

The food bin is filling up fast, let's try to fill it to overflowing this Sunday so this much needed food can be taken to the Open Door Mission. In February we contributed 550 pounds of food to the Open Door Mission. Between our food donations to the Open Door Mission and our bread deliveries to the Francis and Sienna House shelters we are feeding a lot of very needy people. We should be very thankful that God, in His mercy, is allowing us to have a part in feeding so many. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Next Wednesday we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist at 12:10 PM and on Thursday morning at 7:00 AM. I cannot think of a better reason to skip a meal or a better investment of your time. Come and be blessed!

Sunday School is at 9:00 AM, followed by Morning Prayer at 9:30 AM and the Holy Eucharist at 10:00 AM. Nursery care for children under the age of four is available during the 10:00 AM Service. Fellowship and refreshments follow Worship in our new parish hall.

We are a faithful, friendly and active congregation, and we have a place for you. I'll be looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Wishing you every grace and blessing,  

Father+

V. Rev. Victor E. Novak

Rector

HOLY CROSS PARISH

7545 Main Street

Ralston, Nebraska 68127

www.holycrossomaha.net

www.holycrossmedia.com

Rectory: (402) 687-9458

Church:  (402) 573-6558

THE 41st ANNIVERSARY OF ROE V. WADE

Wednesday of this week was the 41st anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing abortion on demand. Since then somewhere between 52 and 54 million pre-born children have been killed in their mothers’ womb. That is well over 3,000 children per day, and one third of all babies conceived in America every year since 1973; and it is also big business, raking in vast profits for the abortion industry. 

One clergyman wrote on his blog:

“Roe v. Wade: A 41 Year Long Holocaust

You can sanitize the language but its still murder. Abortion has desensitized us to the reality of what is happening when an unborn life is terminated. How long before the judgment of God comes upon a people who do this?”

He concluded his message with these words:

“I submit that the unborn children of anyone have a right to fulfill their dreams as well and to a safe community and to health, and actually to life. Let's not let this anniversary, let's not let any day, let's not let any of this go by without really understanding what is taking place not only in the United States and Canada, but around the world with all of these abortions and the culture of death, the culture of murder that has been fostered, promoted, and now just sanitized away with language like this and so much more than we could bring out.

We are talking about murder. We are talking about taking the life of a child from the womb of its mother. Let's not forget that... but let me leave you with one scripture from Deuteronomy 30:19. God says through Moses to not just Israel but to all of us,’Choose life that both you and your descendants might live.’ That's God's teaching. That's God's instruction.”

Think about it for a moment. “Abortion has desensitized us to the reality of what is happening when an unborn life is terminated. How long before the judgment of God comes upon a people who do this?”

God often punishes us by letting us have what we want. This is known in Scripture as the law of sowing and reaping. America has sown the wind and is reaping the whirlwind. The generation that cried out for abortion on demand is now finding their children and grandchildren calling for the killing of the elderly through euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, and soon the right to die will become the duty to die. America has killed a whole generation, 52 to 55 million innocent lives violently snuffed out because they were “inconvenient,” “unplanned” or “too costly.” That is more than twice the entire population of Canada! These slaughtered Americans are being replaced with mass third world immigration which threatens to change our country forever. We have indeed sown the wind and we are reaping the whirlwind... but there is hope!

Despite the freezing temperatures and winter storms many thousands of patriotic, pro-life Americans turned out for the March for Life in Washington, DC. The pro-abortion counter-demonstrators who normally number only a handful didn’t even show up this year. Their counter-demonstration was cancelled due to the weather. Not only did this year’s March For Life demonstrate the commitment and fortitude of the movement, but much has been accomplished at the grass roots and 2014 promises to be a year in which even more ground is won back in this culture war for the soul of America. You can read all about it in an excellent article by clicking this link: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/22/march-for-life .

Abortion never solves anything. It always leaves at least two victims: one dead and one wounded. As Christians we need to love them both. We need to pray and work to stop this genocide, and reach out to the wounded with the gospel, giving them the opportunity for repentance, forgiveness and healing. There is forgiveness and the promise of a new life to all who will repent. Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, has come to Christ, experienced a new life, and now works to end abortion. Her book, Won By Love, is eye opening and encouraging, and her story has given new hope to those wounded by abortion.

While godly men and women all across America were mourning the 41st anniversary of the beginning of this genocide, the Left was celebrating it. Jesus said that the devil was a liar and murder from the beginning, and the father of lies; and the devil continues to lie about abortion and to twist the facts, and this father of death continues his efforts to advance the culture of death and spread the killing from the pre-born to the elderly, the sick and the disabled.

Barrack Hussein Obama issued a short pro-abortion statement commemorating the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. You can read his entire statement and a response from First Things titled, “Eight Lies in President Obama’s Roe Statement” by clicking here: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/01/eight-lies-in-president-obamas-roe-statement .

There is a very heartwarming article and short video on the Internet about one of those disposable, handicapped pre-born children whom doctors tried five times to get the mother to abort. I hope that you will take a couple of minutes to see it. Here is the link: http://gma.yahoo.com/toddler-overcomes-spine-crushing-dwarfism-become-internet-singing-103737270--abc-news-health.html

This week I read an article from another clergyman who leads an American Christian denomination. He is a conservative Christian, but I found what he wrote about the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade very sad. He wrote, “I am Sighing and Crying. What am I supposed to do? A shameful benchmark came and went yesterday: the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade...” So far, so good, but then he wrote, “But I can’t do anything about it. All I can do is express my outrage, but to go beyond that is futily opposing increased moral sliding... This slide is irreversible...”

This Christian leader believes that things are supposed to get worse and worse, and that trying to do anything about it is futile. We have heard this same message coming from Christian radio and TV, and from countless pulpits. According to these voices, trying to do anything is like polishing the brass on a sinking ship or arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. This message of hopelessness, defeat and retreat has sidelined millions of Christians and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rather than being salt and light in society it has reduced many Christians to being mere spectators watching the collapse of Western Christian civilization.

This was not the view of the early Church who literally turned the world upside down. This was not the view of our Christian forbearers who built Christendom in Europe. This was not the view of those brave Christians who bled to stop the Moslem hordes at the gates of Vienna or who drove the Moors from Spain and liberated the country from Islamic oppression. This was not the view of the Founding Fathers of our Republic who establish a new nation based on Christianity.  And this was not the view of the foreign missionaries who for centuries have given their lives to reach the world with the gospel. 

Many Christians, even otherwise orthodox Christians, become uncomfortable when a pastor speaks out about abortion. "Everyone knows we are against abortion," they reason, "so why talk about it? After all, it makes people uncomfortable and it is such a divisive issue." But being "against abortion" is not enough. We can't just be personally opposed to it while we fail to speak up because it makes people uncomfortable or because it is such a divisive issue in our polarized society. Pastors are called by God to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Abortion must be exposed for what it really is, and this genocide must be stopped. How? St. Augustine of Hippo points the way. He said, "Pray as though everything depends on God, and work as though everything depends on you."  

2013: A YEAR OF BLESSINGS AT HOLY CROSS PARISH

A little reflection on the year 2013 reveals that we have a lot to celebrate as a parish. God has been with us every step of the way and has used us to touch many lives, and the future looks very bright indeed. The state of Holy Cross parish is strong. As we begin the new year we should take some time to reflect on our blessings and give thanks for them, and to make resolutions to take our discipleship even more seriously in 2014. Here are some of the blessings for which we should be thankful:

We had more people at church on the Fourth Sunday in Advent in 2013 than we had on the Fourth Sunday in Advent in 2012, and we had had more people at our Christmas Midnight Eucharist in 2013 than we had in 2012.

When the Vestry met in December we reviewed the parish finances for the year. They are solid. As of the end of November we had more money in the bank than we had on January 1, 2013.

In December we moved into our new parish hall. The new hall is almost double the size of our old parish hall. While we were overcrowded in the old hall we seem dwarfed in the new hall, but that is a good feeling. It gives us plenty of space for expansion.

In 2013 we contributed 4,997 pounds, or about two and a half tons of much needed food to the Open Door Mission. That is more than four times our original goal and an absolutely amazing amount of food! In addition, our first  donation of food for 2014 was taken to the Open Door Mission this week and it totaled 300 pounds. By God's grace we are feeding a lot of very needy people.

In 2013 we delivered a vast amount of donated gourmet bread to the Francis and Siena House Shelters. Deliveries are made every Friday and one Saturday of the month, and I am told that each delivery is around 150 pounds of bread. We are currently supplying the three largest homeless shelters in Omaha with much needed food. Holy Cross is making a real difference in the lives of real people.

In 2013 we partnered with Samaritan's Purse and participated in Operation Christmas Child. Holy Cross parishioners sent many boxes of Christmas gifts to children in third world countries touching them with the love of Jesus and giving them hope and an opportunity to go on and study God's Word.

In 2013 we incorporated Gregorian chant into the Eucharistic Liturgy. Every Sunday this ancient chant is used for the minor propers in the Holy Eucharist.

At Christmas time in 2012 we established a Vested Choir at Holy Cross parish. This dedicated choir sacrifices an evening of their time every week and has blessed the parish with their music ministry throughout 2013 and into 2014. 

We now celebrate the Holy Eucharist at Holy Cross parish three times every week - Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, in addition to Holy Days. We are truly a Eucharist-centered parish and everyone has an opportunity to receive the Blessed Sacrament frequently. We also celebrate the Holy Eucharist one Saturday per month in the chapel of Douglas County Hospital, bringing the gospel and the sacraments to long-term residents that are all too often completely cut off from any church community.

We are a Bible preaching and Bible teaching church where the Word of God is proclaimed and explained from the pulpit and where our adult Christian education class is taught at the college level. Parishioners at Holy Cross parish have every opportunity to partake of the sincere milk of the Word, advance to strong spiritual meat, and grow into mature disciples of Christ.

We are a praying church. We take prayer very, very seriously at Holy Cross parish. Prayer requests are taken every Sunday and we devote time for serious prayer, praying for people by name and by need. In addition, we have a well organized and active parish Prayer Chain whose members are committed to pray for those serious and immediate needs that sometimes unexpectedly occur. 

Some churches are veritable burial societies, but by God's grace we had no funerals in the parish in 2013. In fact, since we began meeting for worship in a conference room of the Holiday Inn Express in the summer of 2007, we have had only one death in the parish. Only one in six and a half years. We have much to be thankful for!

Holy Cross parish is truly a united, traditional and active Orthodox Anglican Church serving Omaha and the surrounding communities. The uncompromised Word of God is proclaimed and taught, the sacraments are administered with reverence, real prayer is a priority, and the great hymns of the Church are sung, all in an atmosphere of love with an emphasis on the church as a community, as the family of God, rather than merely an institution or a building.

These are just a few of the blessings that we should be thankful for. During this Christmas season we remember that God so loved the world that in the fullness of time He sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem us from sin and death. Jesus gave his life for us that we might have life and that more abundantly, and he established his church where we could be united in fellowship with him and with a spiritual family, and where we might hear and learn the Word of God, receive the sacraments of grace, especially baptism and Holy Communion, be empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and continue Christ's work in the world. Jesus gave his life for us. What more could he give? Many professed Christians are merely spectators or spiritual consumers. "What am I getting out of church they often ask?" But our attitude should be much different. To paraphrase President Kennedy, ask not what your church can do for you, but ask what you can do for your church! The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers means that we are all ministers, and that means that we should all have a ministry in the church. Our mission is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know him and the fulness of the apostolic faith to those who do, and to build up the Body of Christ. May God continue to bless us with an even greater and more effective minisrtry in 2014. May we be the first pebble that begins the avalanche that will be the New Evangelization of America and a renewal of the universal call to holiness. 

HOLY CROSS UPDATE

HOLY CROSS PARISH NEWS

Christmas Midnight Mass

We will celebrate the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at Holy Cross parish with a Midnight Mass on December 25th. Jesus is the reason for the season, and there is no better way to begin the celebration of his birth than by coming together for Worship. The Liturgy will include our vested choir and Gregorian chant. Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the year! A Christmas party in our new parish hall will follow worship. Everyone is invited to bring Christmas goodies to share at the party.  Our processional hymn will be Adeste Fideles, so "come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem... O Come let us adore him, Christ the Lord." Everyone is always welcome!

New Parish Hall

Holy Cross parish continues to expand. In December we moved into our new parish hall which is about twice as large as our old one. 

Ministry to Those in Need

Our final food donation to the Open Door Mission for 2013 was made last week. It totaled 298 pounds of food! When we began this ministry our goal was 100 pounds of food per month, totaling 1,200 pounds for the year.  We finished 2013 with a total of 4,997 pounds of food, more than four times our original goal and only three pound short of 2.5 tons. Imagine, Holy Cross has provided the Open Door Mission with about two and a half tons of food this year! In addition, deliveries of large amounts of donated gourmet bread are made to the Francis and Siena House Shelters every week. We don't just talk about helping the poor at Holy Cross parish, we are impacting the lives of those most in need all year long. 

Holy Cross Parish Website

Our parish website has been updated and it looks great! If you haven't had a chance to visit it yet I hope that you will and that you will tell your friends about it. I have already been getting positive feedback from around the country. The address is: www.holycrossomaha.net

Christmas Season

Christmas is not a one day event for Christians. The Christmas season begins on December 25th and lasts twelve days until the Epiphany on January 6th. Join us for Christmas Midnight Mass and enjoy the Christmas celebration from Christmas Day until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year!

Sunday Morning Prayer is at 9:30 AM, followed by the Holy Eucharist at 10:00 AM. Christian Education will resume after Epiphany. Nursery Care for children under the age of four is available during our 10:00 AM Liturgy. Fellowship and refreshments in our parish hall follow Services. Jesus is the reason for the season and wise men still seek him!  We are a faithful and friendly congregation and we have a place for you. I'll be looking forward to seeing you soon! 

Wishing you every grace and blessing,

Fr. Victor Novak+

Rector

RECEPTION INTO ORTHODOXY

Holy Cross Anglican Church has been received into full sacramental communion and visible unity with the 300 million-member Orthodox Church and is now known as Holy Cross Orthodox Church. Holy Cross is an Anglican Rite parish of the Western Rite Vicariate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. 

Fr. Anthony Coniaris, an Orthodox priest and popular teacher has written, "The Orthodox Church has two distinctive features: (1) its changelessness; (2) its sense of living continuity with the church of the early apostles."

Morning Prayer is at 9:30 AM on Sunday morning, followed by the Holy Eucharist at 10:00 AM. Nursery Care for children under the age of four is available during the 10:00 AM Liturgy. Fellowship and refreshments follow worship, with a potluck luncheon on the last Sunday of each month. Holy Day and week day Services are as announced. Visitors are always welcome. We are a faithful, friendly, active and growing congregation, and we have a place for you! For more information about Holy Cross parish and our journey to Orthodoxy, visit our church Website: www.holycrossomaha.net

ORTHODOX-ANGLICAN REUNION

Dear friends in Christ,

Fr. Anthony, Pastoral Vicar for the Western Rite of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) will be addressing the Spring Conference of the Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen (FCC)  in Fredericksburg, Virginia this week. He will be accompanied by Metropolitan Jonah. The FCC is the organization that organized the great St. Louis Church Congress in 1977, that launched the continuing Anglican movement.

Early this year I was contacted by Col. Wallace Spaulding, President of the Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen. He told me that the FCC Board wanted a representative of the Orthodox Church who could speak with authority to address their Spring Conference. I recommended Fr. Anthony, Pastoral Vicar for the Western Rite, and Col. Spaulding asked me to arrange it. Fr. Anthony graciously agreed and will be addressing the Spring Conference with the blessing of Archbishop Hilarion, Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Yesterday I learned that Metropolitan Jonah will be accompanying Fr. Anthony to the Conference.

The FCC Spring Conference is being held Friday, May 24th and Saturday, May 25th, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and will begin at 6:00 PM Friday evening and conclude at noon on Saturday. The Conference will be  held at the Fredericksburg Comfort Suites (541 Warrenton Rd.) through breakfast on Saturday, and at St. Luke's Anglican Church (65 Warrenton Rd.) thereafter. The cost for the meeting and the Friday night dinner is only $25.00. You will be responsible for your own lodging arrangements. 

Fr. Anthony will be speaking on Saturday, May 25th, at 10:00 AM, at St. Luke's Anglican Church. You will want to hear Fr. Anthony speak and to meet both Fr. Anthony and Metropolitan Jonah. Fr. Anthony was an Episcopal priest for many years before he entered the Orthodox Church. He now serves as rector of a Western Rite congregation and as Pastoral Vicar of the Western Rite parishes. Metropolitan Jonah is a former Episcopalian as is Bishop Jerome, Vicar-bishop for the Western Rite in ROCOR.

The goal of the great St. Louis Church Congress was to preserve the historic Faith and Order of the Anglican Church after the Episcopal Church had abandoned that Faith and Order, and to bring orthodox Anglicans into unity with the wider Church. For a generation continuing Anglicans have prayed and worked for Church unity. Full sacramental communion and visible unity with the 300 million-member Orthodox Church, while preserving in perpetuity our Anglican liturgical, spiritual and cultural patrimony, is possible right now. The wait is over.

I know that this may be short notice, but if you are interested in Orthodox-Anglican reunion and are within driving distance of Fredericksburg, this is a Conference that you will not want to miss.  All you need to do is to be at St. Luke's Anglican Church by 10:00 AM on Saturday to hear Fr. Anthony and meet Metropolitan Jonah. I hope that you will share this invitation to the FCC Spring Conference with everyone who you think may be interested in it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Wishing you every grace and blessing,

Fr. Victor Novak+

Rev. Victor E. Novak

Rector

HOLY CROSS PARISH

7545 Main Street

Ralston, Nebraska 68127

www.holycrossomaha.net

Rectory: (402) 687-9458

Church:  (402) 573-6558

HOLY CROSS UPDATE

Dear friends in Christ,

This Update is going out to the members and friends of Holy Cross parish. Please feel free to share it with anyone who you think may be interested.

I hope that you are having a good week. It seems that winter has revisited us, but Spring cannot be far away!

Fr. Smith has taken our latest food donation to the Open Door Mission. It totaled 281 lbs! Let us spend our lives doing good, praying and working for the day when no one will go hungry while we enjoy a good meal, or shiver in the cold while we sleep in warm beds, or kneel under oppression while we kneel before our shining altars. Our Lord calls us to be salt and light in the world. We cannot do everything, but each of us can do something, and together we can make a real difference in the lives of real people. 283 lbs of food will feed a lot of hungry people. That said, we must remember that people need to eat every day. Our parish food bin is now empty. Let's begin refilling it this Sunday. Give, give and then give again. Believe me, you will be blessed. You cannot out-give God.

The celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the chapel of Douglas County Hospital scheduled for Saturday morning, May 4th, has been cancelled. 

Last week's potluck luncheon was wonderful. We have seldom seen so much good food! Our monthly potluck luncheons are a real highlight at Holy Cross parish. On the last Sunday of every month we enjoy a wonderful meal and warm fellowship together.

Please be sure to mark your calendar for Friday, May 24th and Saturday, June 8th.  On Friday  evening, May 24th, we will have dinner and a movie at Holy Cross. We will be showing the movie Chariots of Fire and grilling hamburgers and hotdogs. Everyone is invited to bring salads, sides and beverages of all kinds to share. May 24th is the Friday after Pentecost so there will be no Friday abstinence. So mark your calenders, invite family and friends, come hungry, and plan on having a wonderful evening!

On Saturday, June 8th, the Sisters of Holy Cross will hold their annual fund raising rummage sale. Everyone is invited to participate by donating items to be sold. The more you donate the better. Donated goods can be brought to the church on Sunday morning June 2nd, or on Wednesday evening June 5th. I'll give you more details as they become available.

Can you believe that this Sunday is the last Sunday in Eastertide? With the snow we have just had it feels like we should still be in Epiphanytide!  Next week we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist on Wednesday at 12:10 PM as usual. It will be the last Liturgy at which we will light the Paschal Candle until next year. Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion two or three times a week will change your life. We cannot receive too much grace! Come and experience the transforming love and power of the Lord.

Next Thursday, May 9th, is Ascension Day, a Holy Day of Obligation. We will celebrate the Holy Eucharist for the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord at 6:00 PM. There will be no morning Mass on that day. Please mark your calendar and plan to be at church on Ascension Thursday at 6:00 PM to celebrate this great Feast.

Choir practice will be held Wednesday evening, May 8th, at 6:30 PM. A big thank you to our choir and music director for all of your hard work. You are a real blessing to the parish!

My adult Christian Education class on Church History continues this week. We will be taking a close and careful look at the teaching of Christ in Matthew 16: "on this rock I will build my Church." If you have ever wondered who or what is the rock, or what Jesus meant when He promised that the gates of hell will never prevail against His Church, then you will not want to miss this class! Class begins at 9:00 AM. Come, learn, be blessed and become equipped to bless others.

Sunday School begins at 9:00 AM, followed by Morning Prayer at 9:30 AM, and the Holy Eucharist at 10:00 AM. Nursery care for children under the age of four is available during the 10:00 AM Liturgy. Fellowship and refreshments in our parish hall immediately follows worship. Don't let "u" be missing from Ch_rch this Sunday. We are a faithful and friendly congregation, and we have a place for you. See you Sunday!

Wishing you every grace and blessing,

Father+

Fr. Victor E. Novak

HOLY CROSS PARISH

7545 Main Street

Ralston, NE 68127

www.holycrossomaha.net

(402) 573-6558