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Fr. Joe is holding a mandatory meeting for all those who handle the Eucharist—extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, sacristans, and those who minister to the sick, homebound, and nursing home residents—on Friday, February 10, at 6 p.m. in the church. If you are unable to attend this important meeting, please contact Fr. Joe directly to set up a time to meet with him. Many thanks.

The Pastoral Council is holding an Open Forum on Saturday, February 11, from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Mahler Hall. The Pastoral Council needs to hear from you so they can effectively advise Fr. Joe. Please come and share your thoughts on: Are your spiritual needs being met? How can we better help you to meet your spiritual needs? With limited resources and personnel, what should we let go or continue? They would really like to hear from everyone, so if you are unable to attend the meeting, you can communicate your answers in person or by email to any Pastoral Council member, or you can drop them off at the Parish Office. They will hold a second forum on Sunday, May 21, from 10:15–11:15 a.m. to share their proposal for reorganizing church committees and summaries of parishioner comments gathered during the revitalization dinners. You can find the summaries here and here.

We will hold a Young Adult event next Saturday, February 11, at 6:15 p.m. in Mahler Hall. All those 35 and under are welcome! Please come for an evening of fun and fellowship. Contact Nora Murphy at anymurphy1@gmail.com with any questions.

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Beyond the Plate dinner is returning to raise money for the Ithaca MobilePack for Feed My Starving Children! The dinner will take place on Sunday, February 19, from 5–9 p.m. here in Mahler Hall. It consists of a five-course meal prepared by guest chefs Jay Dietershagen (Crossroads Bar & Grille), Sam Epps (Gola Osteria), Fr. Joseph Marcoux (pastor of St. Catherine's), Kyra O'Toole, and Serendipity Catering & Bar. Wine pairings for each course will be chosen by Karl Kernan of Triphammer Wines & Spirits. We are honored to have Jean McPheeters as our emcee for the evening and Sheri Johnson as our guest speaker. Tickets ($120 each) have sold out, but there is a wait list—contact Mary Crosley at crosleym22@gmail.com for more information. If you can help with serving, setup, or cleanup for the event, contact Patricia Sipple at sipplep16@gmail.com. Thank you!

We are thrilled that we have reached our Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA) goal of $60,000. Thank you so much for your generosity to all who donated! We would like to celebrate reaching our goal with a party on Mardi Gras, Tuesday, February 21, at 7 p.m. in Mahler Hall. We hope you can make it!

Ash Wednesday is coming up on February 22. We will celebrate Mass at 12:10 and 5:45 p.m. We will hold our annual Simple Soup Supper after the 5:45 p.m. Mass, but we need your help to make it happen. If you can help with the supper, please contact June in the Parish Office at 607-257-2493 or june.haynor@dor.org. Thank you!

Would you, or someone you love, benefit from Catholic ministry that is LGBTQ+ focused? Would you like to know what the Catholic Church really teaches about gay, lesbian, or transgender individuals? We want to be here for you, but we need to hear from you about what that means! On Sunday, February 26, at 12:45 p.m., we are hosting a listening session for those who are interested. It will be informal, with a light lunch served. All are welcome. Please let Karen Webb know if you can come at 607-257-2493 or karen.webb@dor.org. We hope to see you there!

High schoolers are invited to come join other Catholic teens from our area for a day away on Saturday, March 4, from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. in Mahler Hall to refresh and reconnect with the Source and Summit of our faith. The day will include fun, prayer, reflection, and food, and will end with Mass. To register, click here. If you need more details or have questions, please contact Rich Rasmussen at rich.rasmussen@dor.org. We hope you can take part!

We are organizing a group of volunteers to respond during medical emergencies and to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) if necessary. You do not need to have a medical background, and we are offering a training course on CPR and the AED that will give you the confidence and knowledge to help out. If you are interested, please email Paul Stefek at cxcskier@aol.com. Please indicate if you have any previous CPR or AED training. We will update with course information soon. Thank you!

Click here to read a wonderful article on Pope Emeritus Benedict's resignation by our St. Catherine's parishioner Daniel Gallagher, who worked at the Vatican's Secretariat of State from 2007–2017. This article, with his unique perspective, was published recently in Crisis magazine.

It's time for the annual Catholic Ministries Appeal. The CMA helps those in need throughout the diocese, and also helps to make our parish ministries possible here at St. Catherine's. This video tells you more about the importance of the appeal. We hope you will prayerfully consider making a gift. If you have not received an envelope from the diocese, you can pick one up in the Parish Office. You can also donate online at donate.dor.org. Many thanks for your consideration!

The Parish Office has new hours! Beginning Monday, September 19, our hours are: Mondays from 1–4 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; and Fridays from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Thank you for your cooperation—we really appreciate it.

A huge thank you to all who helped us answer questions from the synod. Whether you answered in writing after Mass or in person at the synod gatherings, we truly appreciate your feedback! The Adult Faith Committee has taken great care to compile the responses and put together reports for the diocese. Please visit our synod page to see an explanation of how the reports were written, as well as a summary for each gathering. 

The Tompkins County Health Department has suspended the local mask advisory as the spread of COVID has slowed. Therefore, masks are no longer required at St. Catherine's, but we encourage you to continue wearing a mask for the safety of your neighbors. Choir members will continue to wear masks and the plexiglass around the cantor stand and ambo will remain in place, since aspirants from singing can travel more than 20 feet. We continue to pray for healing for all those who are sick and for an end to this long pandemic.

Some parishioners have received emails purporting to be from Fr. Joe, usually asking for gift cards. Please know that these emails are all scams. Fr. Joe will never ask you for gift cards or any gift over the internet. These emails do not originate from Fr. Joe's official email address ( fr.joseph.marcoux@dor.org). Please discard and block these emails from your inbox.

Due to the prevalence of the Covid-19 Delta variant, we respectfully require that everyone attending Mass or meeting in the Parish Center wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. We pray for the health of the community and for an end to the pandemic. 

The Online Learning Playlist for the second half of March centers our attention on Holy Week. You will learn about each of the days that make up Holy Week, have opportunities to celebrate these days at home and at church, and deepen your understanding of how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of all that we believe. Sign up here to receive the playlist. We encourage everyone to give it a look!

St. Catherine's financial report for Fiscal Year 2020 is available here. We apologize that it is not legible in the online version of the bulletin from November 22.

A blue Mutual Aid Food Sharing Cabinet is now at St. Catherine’s! Located in front of the church, this cabinet functions as a small food pantry that is available for all community members. If you can donate nonperishable food or other essential items, please put them in the cabinet. If the cabinet is full, you can drop them off in the Parish Center. If you need food or other items, please feel free to take them at any time. Please click here for a list of suggested food and non-food items to donate. Also, a new "allergy box" has been added to the cabinet. Please add items to this clear plastic box that are options for those with dietary restrictions—gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, or nut-free. Thank you!

Local clergy here in Ithaca made a video in response to recent acts of anti-Semitic and anti-Black vandalism. You can watch the video  here. Hate has no home here.