St. Johns the Evangelist

IMPORTANT UPDATES: 03/26/2020:

CHURCH OPEN
Tue – Fri: 10am to 12pm
Tue & Thu: 1:30pm to 4:30pm

ADORATION
Thursday: 9:30am to 11am
(Observe 6-feet social distancing.
Not more than 10 people at a time.)

CONFESSIONS:
Saturday: 5pm to 6pm

PLEASE CONTINUE YOUR CHURCH-GIVING. You can either:
a) Forward your contribution to the office whenever it's open
b) Mail your check to: St. John the Evangelist Parish, PO Box 580, Yamhill OR 97148 

I hope that we continue to take care of our church, so the church can continue its work of taking care of people, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Thank you for your kind generosity! No one else will take care of our church but us.


IMPORTANT UPDATES: 03/19/2020:

PLEASE SHARE: All public Masses and Church group activities of 10 or more are closed to the public effective immediately, until April 14. However:

1) Sunday Masses (available starting Saturday, 6:30pm) & Holy Week Liturgies will be uploaded on: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxfpGyoFxIPqUonwBFe0xPw…

For those without internet, other Masses and liturgies are also available on religious channels like EWTN. 

2) The Church is still open for those who want to pray, whenever there's someone at the office. Confession still every Saturday, but at 5:00 - 6:00pm

Thank you for being so understanding in all that's happening now. Personally, I am very sad at the limitations that we have now. I am a priest and this is my life, to do Mass & other Church services. So imagine how sad this can be for me! However, I also understand that now is the time to show our unwavering faith in God. I hope that people understand the truth about Spiritual Communion that the Catholic Church teaches in times of crisis. As Christians, we have to obey the foremost words/commandment of Christ: to love our neighbor, to care for their welfare. As a Church, we are doing all these changes for an abundance of caution, because loving & caring for others mean that we do not want to be an instrument to spread the virus. Imagine all the people and their families who will be affected if someone gets sick, or worse, die, because we did practice charity towards others.

I hope that we will be able to continue our personal prayer and spiritual exercises in this time of Lent. I hope we are using the resources that our parish provided at the start of Lent, like the Lent booklets. Please remain calm, vigilant, and cautious. Err on the side of an abundance of caution, not just for your own sake, but for others who may be infected, if we do no follow the protocols. 

For now, we will practice "Spiritual Communion". This means that we may not be physically present at Mass or even physically receive Communion. However, the faithful can always spiritually attend Mass and receive Communion. This is so, because we are not just a corporal body, but we ar also a spiritual Body of Christ.
We are now in time of Praying, Fasting & Alms-Giving. Though we still receive Christ spiritually at this time, let’s consider not receiving Him physically as our “fasting”. I’m sure this will make us more hungry for the Eucharist, once things get back to normal.

Let me leave you with the words that Jesus Christ himself said to St. Gertrude, a revered saint and mystic, who's had conversations with our Lord on her contemplations:

“He who abstains from receiving the Body of Christ through obedience and holy discretion, and purely for the glory of God, and who, being inflamed with Divine love, communicates spiritually, merits to receive a benediction like that given to the Saint, and obtain from God more abundant fruit, although the order and secret of this conduct is entirely hidden from the eyes of men.”
- Jesus to Saint Gertrude, during one of her mystical encounters with the Lord

Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Fr. Zani

"Prayer 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.