Pastor’s 2 Cents From: Fr. Jim DeBruycker

Well, another era has ended; Sid Hartmann is gone - not a close personal friend of mine, but a significant personality. Now, my dentist of 35 years, Dr. David Tuck, has retired. We bonded years ago over a very nasty infection and root canal. I hate the thought of a search for a new dentist, although he has given some great referrals and his hygienist is moving on to the referrals. One has a tendency to grow close to your torturer, a kind of Stockholm Syndrome. I’m kind of kidding but kind of not. It seems that during this Covid season there have been a number of significant deaths, not just people but also institutions. Among other things, with Curran’s closing I won’t be getting a fiesta omelet at 9pm there anymore and no more egg salad sandwiches with French fries and a coke. It’s like the Rainbow Cafe closing at Lake and Hennepin, when I lived at 32nd and Girard in the 70’s. Or Western Electric and Northwestern Bell disappearing and turning into whatever they are called today. I could go on and on remembering what used to be. For some reason, this Covid period of life has a tendency to magnify losses and memo-ries. In a sense you feel locked into time, surrounded by memories and an unknown future, but that is almost a description of life itself. I can’t imagine what this feels like to a young person. They are in a hurry and don’t have the luxury of many significant memories and relationships. Well, like the Mirror of Erised (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) we could waste away thinking of what might have been. Life goes on. Among other things, we need to create a new future for us and others to follow. Of course, I’m talking about voting. Covid will not last forever (even though it seems endless) and we will need to rebuild structures of governance that have gone into disrepair. The readings for this Sunday call us to the task, beginning with the reading of Exodus to build a world of empathy; learning the need for ac-ceptance from our own experience and reaching out so that all have a share in the richness of God’s creation. I don’t usually revert to threats, but the caveat of God to those who ignore those in need is fairly straight forward. The Gospel is straight forward too. Put reverence before God in your heart and treat others the way you would like to be treated. Go back to those memories, the good ones, and the ones where you messed up big time. God has forgiven you; now offer the same to your neighbor.

Arm in Arm in Africa: Fr. Jim Cassidy will lead our annual Arm in Arm in Africa celebration on

the weekend of Nov. 7 - 8 in our online Mass. He will provide an update on our extended family and, along with fellow Board member Darryl Savage, share the pertinent work and needs of this vital organization. AIAIA is one of the long stand-ing Sustaining Partnerships within the SJA community and we invite you to con-tinue supporting their work in this time of great need. Because our Mass is virtual, we will not be able to take up the normal second collection for Arm in Arm or dis-

tribute remittance envelopes on-site for you to share with other supporters. Instead, please visit aiaia.org/donate to make a contribution or to request a remittance envelope. You also may call Pat Dawson, Executive Director, to request envelopes at 952.221.5305. Arm in Arm Sun-day has been this organization's primary source of funding for 20 years, so your extra steps to support AIAIA this year are most appreciated!

Sun, Oct. 25: Exodus 22:20-26; 1 Thes 1:5c-10; Matthew 23:34-40 Mon, Oct. 26: Ephesians 4:32-5:8; Luke 13:10-17 Tue, Oct. 27: Ephesians 5:21-33; Luke 13:18-21 Wed, Oct. 28: Ephesians 2:19-22; Luke 6:12-16 Thu, Oct. 29: Ephesians 6:10-20; Luke 13:31-35 Fri, Oct. 30: Philippians 1:1-11; Luke 14:1-6 Sat, Oct. 31: Philippians 1:18b-26; Luke 14:1,7-11 Sun, Nov. 1: Revelation 7:2-4,9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a

Chuck Abramson, Carol Anderson, Arlene Axelson, Bill, Dennis Barta, Phyllis Berninger, Ellen, Linus and Lily Bendel-Stenzel, Elaine Boehm, Marcia Boehnlein, Michael Branigan, Patty Brennan, Lorraine Bryant, Stacy Budd, Pam Burd, Josefina Cahuex, David Carroll, Mary Cermak,

Barbara Cracraft, Culver family, Judy Dean, Larry Dease, Jim DeBruycker, Mae Deiekhuis, Joe Dooley, Linda Duffy, Ava Dunlay, Kathie DuRocher, Pete Eichten, Henry F, Bridgit & Paul Fiore, Marguerite Flanigan, John & Margaret Frees, Michelle Fries, Heidi Gregorich, Ron Guillfoile, Linda Halley,

Judy Hilkemann, Brad Hinker, Jim Hinton, Megan Hoffman, Jan Horner, Kathy Horner, Kathy Itzin, Tom Jay, Janie, Jean E, Jeri, John, Annie Kack, Brad Karkkainen, Glen Kelley, Chuck Kennedy, Paul Kennedy, John Kingston, Sage Kirscht, Theresa Knaus, Steve Kremer, Abby L., Helen LaFavor,

Amy Lainus, Melva Larson, Margaret Lulic, Chantilly Lynch, Dawn McCelland, Kate Meyer, Bob Miller, Rita Miller, Tom Moore, Bev Moran, Royce Morrissette, Jack Muelken, Ted Mueller, Cheri Murch, Nate, Randy Naae, Rita Nelson, Craig Nordby, Dick Olson, Paul Olvera,

Mike O’Rourke, Colette Ott, John Palmer, Jacques Parent, Milo Parker, Pam Paul, AJimmy Peterka, lice Pirola, Gina R, Kevin R, Carol Reiland, Ann Resemius, Jack Riebel, Jean Rieck, Gina Romani, Donald & Susan Roufs, Dorothy Rowe, Pat Russell, Ruth J, Sam, Shasa Satrin, Ottavio Savina, Don Schafer, Carter Schmidt, Phil Schmidt, Colleen Schroeder, Pam Schulstad, Betty Scully, Gerry Sell, Gary Sheppard, Paul Skrip, Sam Slagerman,

Harold Sonnek, Teddy Sparrman, Joan Speltz,,Ross Spriggs, Doug Stahlke, Vivian Steblay, Carson Stier, Nancy Stockhaus, Rick Streng, Teresa, Grayson Taylor, Matthew Tennant, Dennis Thurmond, Glo Tonskemper, Arturo Torres, Al Traynham, Linda Underhill, Jesus Uz Tiu, Carin Vagle,

Leroy Vague, Dave Velasco, Floyd Ward, Pam Washington, Marlys Weber, Mary White, Jerry Wohnoutka, George Wolf, Jim Wolfe, Morley Woodruff, Michele Wylie, Mike Wyman, Denise Wyttenbach, Sarah Yoder, Dave Youngren, Annemaire & Ava Zubrzycki, Bridget Zvirin

Prayer Corner Requests: To keep prayer requests current, names will be included in the bulletin for four weeks and then removed. To add a name or to renew your request, please call the Parish Center at 612.823.8205.

Our Liturgies from April through today’s will be available through the St. Joan of Arc website. Celebrate virtually with Fr. DeBruycker , Fr. Cassidy and the SJA community. Watch online at www.stjoan.com.

Family liturgies are launching again join us as we start off our Fall together!

Summary of contributions for the week and fiscal year. Includes plate, envelopes and estimated Sustaining Member payments.

Week of October 12 - October 18, 2020 Actual $40,257 Budget $34,583 Prior Year Actual $39,751

Year to Date (July 1 – October 18, 2020) Actual $475,332 Budget $516,749 Prior Year Actual $588,753

THANK YOU for your continued generosity!!

It Takes a Village! Since March 22, St. Joan of Arc has em-barked on a whole new way of celebrating our Sunday masses and community gatherings. Online is now the new normal and our response from parishioners has been only positive and ex-treme gratitude! We want to acknowledge the folks behind the scenes who help make this happen and say our "thank you" for keeping us together as a community in these uncertain and isolated times. Our gratitude goes out to Jeff and Rita Nohner who film our online masses every week. Thank you to Fred and Anna Vagle who plan music and edit videos along with our SJA musicians who share their new music and creativity. Thanks to JP Fitzgibbons, our office staff and many volunteer parishioner readers. Our Thanks to the SJA custodial staff, directed by Steve Friedrichs, who set up our physical location and make sure everything is sanitized and safe...and thank you to Fr. Jim DeBruycker and Fr. Jim Cassidy for their direction and inspiration as they bring the word of God to us every Sunday and continue to be the voice of St. Joan of Arc. It takes a village and we are remaining a village because of all of you! Blessings and profound gratitude! (Anna Vagle - director of liturgy and music)

The Importance of Gratitude: In these challenging times in which we live, I have found a practice which is helping me stay balanced and relatively happy. The practice – Giving Thanks! We have a choice either to focus on what we lack or how really terrible life is or to focus on what we have and how much we have been given. What’s your choice? Research has shown that people – regardless of age – who have a regular practice of expressing gratitude are healthier and happier. Also research has show that young people who regularly give thanks do better in school and have fewer headaches. And what are you grateful for? ~Mark Scannell

Warm Hands Warm Hearts: Thank you! Thank You! St. Joan of Arc, you came through in such an incredible way - as you always do. Between donated items and donated dollars, we will be able to outfit 500 children in our community with new winter coats, hats and mittens. We thank: All of our generous donors Our devoted volunteers Our maintenance staff - Steve Friedrichs and the crew Our finance office staff - Nancy McPherson and Margo Hea-

ney Our SJA front desk and communications staff - JP Fitzgib-

bons, Nancy Becker, Dennis Heaney, and Pam Kremer Fr. Jim DeBruycker and Fr. Jim Cassidy, for making this pro-

ject a priority at SJA And most of all, we thank our project leaders. Parishioners

Anne Bartel, Jaine King, Mary Ahler, Karen Bloomberg John-son and LeAnn Lundberg spent countless hours figuring out how to make this program work during a pandemic, and they refused to lower their expectations for how many children we could serve, regardless of the necessary restrictions. They are stellar. On behalf of our SJA community, we express our gratitude to this team, and to all of you who made this out-pouring of compassion a reality once again. God bless you

Welcome the Stranger Fall Series: On Sunday, Nov. 15, from 1-2:30pm, Fr. Jim Callahan will join us for our con-cluding event. Fr. Jim is senior pastor of St. Mary's Church in Worthington, MN, and he has worked to build solidarity with immigrant communities in this small town in a very difficult time. FFI/to register,

contact Julie Madden or go to www.stjoan.com

SJA Justice Grant Deadline Approaching! If you volunteer with a great non-profit, large or small, please consider filling out a Justice Grant application from the SJA Outreach Fund. We award grants to organizations in which YOU, our parishioners, serve as volunteers and leaders. It is a powerful way to partner with great SJAers doing wonderful! Next deadline is Nov. 1; contact Julie Madden for an application.

Food Shelf/Toiletries Donations Needed: We will continue to accept non-perishable food items, laundry detergent and body soap for Sabathani Community Center and toothbrushes, tooth-paste, toiletry-sized soap, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, and new, lightweight socks for Mobile Loaves Twin Cities. All items can be dropped off Monday through Friday, 9am - 3pm, in the bins in the Parish Center. Thank you for your willingness to help those in need!

Sister Parish Solidarity Walk: On Sunday, Oct. 4 ,a group of 25 SJAers gathered at Minnehaha Falls to reflect and pray on our 26 year Sister Parish relationship with Tierra Nueva Dos in Guatema-la. Each year, we walk, and our family in TNII also walks, and we share what this ministry has meant to us and how it has impact-ed our journey of faith, with this year’s theme being, "We Are Called", Go to the SJA website for photos of our beautiful walk, and please keep Tierra Nueva Dos in your prayers. Thanks to our SJA Sister Parish ministry for your steadfast love and faith.

FFI on Peace & Justice programs contact Julie Madden at 612.823.8205 ext. 228 or jmadden@stjoan.com.

ISAIAH Democracy Day Phone Bank: This Sunday, Oct. 25, SJAers will join with folks from more than 100 member congre-gations and organizations of ISAIAH to reach out to fellow Min-nesotans and ensure that we are all claiming our voices and voting! Registration info on the SJA website.

SJA Antiracism Ministry: On Sunday, Nov. 8, 11am - 1pm, we will continue our discussion on our past and present relationships with Native people in our community. We will also hear from local Native leaders to learn more about the good things we can be part of in solidarity. For the Zoom link, contact Julie Madden.

A Pre-election Sacred Circle: On Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7pm, join Cynthia Bailey Manns and Julie Madden for virtual prayer and sharing together. We will center ourselves in hope, commu-nity and spirit. Please join us - we need one another and the joy of SJA to navigate this time! RSVP to Cynthia at cmanns@stjoan.com for the Zoom link.

SJA Housing Ministry: Great opportunities to impact change! On Monday, Nov. 2, join our partners at Beacon Interfaith

Housing Collaborative for a Rent Is Due Day of Action on Zoom at 8:30am. We'll get a brief update on housing issues, and instructions on how to take action together - and we finish by 9am! It is so simple and so impactful. FFI go to www.beaconinterfaith.org.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, we have a Volunteer Day with Urban Homeworks! Join our SJA team rehabbing a home or apart-ment that will provide beautiful and affordable housing to a low-income family. This is a great, hands-on opportunity, and just a few slots remain for afternoon volunteers (noon til 3:30pm). No experience necessary. FFI/to volunteer, con-tact Julie Madden.

Homeless Students and Families in Minneapolis: At our most recent SJA Housing Ministry update, we learned some sobering facts from parishioner Charlotte Kinzley, who directs support services for home-less and highly mobile students in the Mpls Pub-lic Schools:

Last year, 2351 students were identified as experiencing homelessness. In some schools. between 50 and 60% of the students have experienced homelessness.

Having experienced homelessness is the number one risk factor for not graduating from high school.

71% of all MPS students identified as experiencing home-lessness are Black.

When eviction moratoriums are lifted, it is expected that evictions and homelessness will rise exponentially.

Please join our Housing Ministry efforts to address this crisis, and to make ending homelessness a priority in our state.

FFI on Pastoral Ministries contact Sherri Stella at 612.823.8205 ext. 231 or sstella@stjoan.com.

Monday Mental Health: Please join us for a Zoom Webinar on Monday, November 9, 6:30 - 8pm as Ted Bowman, MDiv, presents Paths Towards Well-Being. This is a free event, and all are welcome. To join us, follow the link on our weekly email letter blast. FFI please contact Sherri Stella at sstel-la@stjoan.com.

Coalition for Grief Support: Due to meeting restrictions, the Grief Coalition had to cancel its fall series. However, our grief coordinator and facilitators are available to provide grief support over the phone. If you are grieving and could benefit from a phone call, please contact Trust at 612.827.6159. Help Parishioners In Need! If you are able to help members in our community with things like picking up & delivering gro-ceries please contact Sherri Stella at 612.823.8205 ext. 231

FFI contact Cynthia Bailey Manns at cmanns@stjoan.com.

RCIA: SJA welcomes you on your spiritual journey of study, exploration, faith sharing, and faith formation. The Rite of Christian Initiation, or RCIA, is an important Sacrament designed for adults (called Candidates) who are interested in becoming Catholic, or for Catholics who wish to be Confirmed, and may also include the Rite of Baptism. Each Candidate works with an individual sponsor who will walk with them through this unique faith journey. The RCIA classes from Fall 2020 through Spring 2021, led by Fr. Jim DeBruycker and the RCIA leadership team, build learning relationships that encourage provocative questions about what it means to be Catholic and opportunities to grow in one's faith. If you are interested or have questions, please contact Cynthia Bailey Manns at cmanns@stjoan.com.

Centering Prayer: Sundays, 10 - 10:30am. To register, email Ray Spack at raymondspack@comcast.net. Archdiocesan Synod: The Church Prepares - Please go to https://www.archspm.org/synod/ for more information on What's Next in Year 2 of the Synod. Contact Cynthia at cmanns@stjoan.com with any questions. Save the Dates: Sacred Presence Circle, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 7 - 8:30pm WSJA (Women of St Joan of Arc), Selfish Care, Self Care &

Soul Care: Tending to All of Who We Are, Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 - 10:30am FFI/ RSVP contact Cynthia at cmanns@stjoan.com.

SAGES will be co-sponsoring two zoom programs on Medicare in partnership with the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging: Medicare 101: learn what you need to know about current

Medicare programs. Monday, November 9, 1 - 2:30pm Annual Medicare Update: Learn about changes to Medicare

over the past year, Monday, November 16, 1 - 2:30pm Attendees need to register for each session individually at the link below or call Melissa Brechon at 952.221.4946. Eventbrite regis-tration link (this private link is created specifically for your group): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/annual-medicare-update-tickets-124647101837

Cyril Paul, dear friend, singer, drummer and long time parishioner is leaving Minnesota to live in California. Cyril has been a beautiful and important presence in our community for many years. His voice has thrilled us on so many occasions and his selfless giving has been a gift for all of St. Joan of Arc. We want to wish Cyril God's blessings and send him

off with some remembrances from our people. If you have a ‘Cyril Story’ you would like to share with him, please email it to Anna Vagle (avagle@stjoan.com) who will compile them into a gift for Cyril. Thank you. We love you Cyril!!

: (Ages 4-Kindergarten) FFI contact Magnolia

Ditzler at mditzler@stjoan.com.

: (Grades 1-6) FFI contact Marie

Bissonnette at mbissonnette@stjoan.com.

At-Home Elementary Faith Formation Program Grades 1-6: No cost to participants for 2020 - 2021. Register: https://www.saintjoanofarc.org/sja-elementary-2020-2021-registration this link is in the NEWS section of our website. Pflaum Gospel Weeklies curriculum: grade 1 – Promise; Grades 2 and 3 – Good News; and Grades 4-6 Venture. All resources will be made avail-able online; our order will be placed according to the number registered and you will be notified when you may access the online materials. Printed materials are also part of your resources and you will be notified when you may pick them up at the Parish Center. Estimated date mid-October. First Reconciliation and First Communion: For those who are planning to prepare for First Reconciliation, we may begin to pre-pare early next year, 2021. An announcement will be broadcast. Hopefully we will celebrate in February/March. The 2020 First Communion children who have registered and prepared do not need to prepare again. You will be included with the 2021 group in whatever plans are developed. The hope is to begin prepara-tion in March 2021, and to celebrate in late April, early May 2021. All plans are Covid-19 dependent! FFI contact Marie, mbissonnette@stjoan.com.

: (Grades 7-12) FFI contact Rose Aspholm

at raspholm@stjoan.com or Brennan Hall at bhall@stjoan.com.