My Dear Parish Family, Greetings in the Lord! It is an honor to address you for the first time as your new pastor. My name is Fr. Alex Joseph Saurianthadathil, but you may call me Fr. Alex. I am so happy to join this wonderful parish of St. Jerome and look forward to continuing in ministry and being blessed with the opportunity of meeting new families throughout this academic year.

The Diocese of Sault Ste Marie announced by way of Decree that Fr. Pat Woods, current Pastor of St. Jerome's Parish, is being transferred to Our Lady of Hope Parish in Sudbury effective September 1st 2021. The future Pastor of of St. Jerome's has not been announced.

Since the discovery of the remains of 215 children on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School I have been struggling to find the words to address the tragedy and the shock, confusion and anger felt by so many, including myself.

World Day of Prayer is informed prayerful action. Imagine Christians from over 170 countries coming together in spirit, uniting on a common day to pray for relevant issues affecting women and children. This is a reality: the movement has been active for nearly 100 years. Each year, a different country writes the service materials. The World Day of Prayer is generally celebrated on the first Friday of March. This year, the writing country is Vanuatu: "Build on a Firm Foundation". Join us March 5th at 2:00 p.m. for the World Day of Prayer 2021 Virtual Prayer Service on St. Jerome’s Parish Website or by accessing Women’s Inter-Church Council Canada Website.

Effective January 16th, 2021, until the end of the Stay at Home order, the Bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste-Marie, Thomas Dowd, has asked that all public celebrations of the Mass in the churches of the Diocese be suspended in order to permit all diocesan parishioners to comply with the provincial Stay at Home directives.

It gives me great pleasure to address this letter to you just a week after the inauguration of my ministry as bishop for the diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. With Christmas arriving just around the corner, one joyous occasion follows another!

Christmas is upon us! We rejoice in the announcement of our God becoming flesh and living among us. The Celebration of Christ is upon us filling our hearts with gratitude for the gift that Jesus is for each of us.

As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the parish is unable to provide hard copies of the periodical the Word Among Us this Advent. We are blessed that The Word Among Us, is providing complimentary access to their daily meditations.

The 2021 offertory envelopes are available. Duevto the Covid-19 restrictions this year we are asking you to call the office at 705-949-1072 to make arrangements to pick them up. This may be a good time to switch to preauthorized withdrawl. Your generosity is greatly appreciated and continues to sustain the efforts of our parish community through our various ministries.

This year our GIVING TREE will be collecting donations for the following agencies: Pauline’s Place, Women in Crisis and St. Vincent Place. Please drop your cheque, made payable to St. Jerome’s, in the collection box at church or at the parish office in a plain white envelope marked Giving Tree with a notation on which charity you would like to support

The 2020-2021 Sunday Missals are now available. These Missals include the Sunday Readings beginning the First Sunday of Advent (November 29th 2020) until the next Feast of Christ the King (November 21, 2021). They are $5 and available in the church office during regular office hours.

Everyone has a story. In this series "Called to Serve" we profile various people who God has called to serve the Church and highlight their journey of discernment and faith in their lives. On October 22, 2020, Pope Francis named Bishop Thomas Dowd as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. In this episode, we profile Bishop Dowd, who tells us about his upbringing, his own call to the priesthood, his life as a Bishop, the blessings and challenges of ministry - and what he is looking forward to as Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie.

The Catholic Bishops of Canada have started a new initiative to speak with young people across Canada to be able to reflect and respond to the hopes, fears and struggles that young people experience in society and in the Church today. The Bishops of Canada will speak virtually with young people, ages 12 -24, from across Canada including young people from across the Diocese of Sault Marie. Please pray for these young people as they represent the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie in these important conversations.

On Thursday October 22nd 2020, Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Thomas Dowd as the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste Marie transferring him from the titular See of Treba and the office of Auxiliary of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montreal.

As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, preparation for the Sacrament of Eucharist scheduled to begin Tuesday March 24th 2020 at 7:00 p.m. has been postponed until the spring of 2021. Families will be contacted in January of 2021 with a new schedule for preparation and reception of 1st Eucharist.  We are certainly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We pray for each other, those affected by this virus, for those who are concerned and for the caregivers who dedicate themselves with great generosity.

Registration for the Sacrament of Confirmation Postponed As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, registration of the Sacrament of Confirmation has been postponed until fall of 2021. Preparation for the the Sacrament of Confirmation will be in the fall of 2021 followed by the reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation in November of 2021. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We pray for each other, those affected by this virus and for the caregivers who dedicate themselves with great generousity.

As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, new registrations of the Sacraments of 1st Reconciliation and 1st Eucharist have been postponed until fall of 2021. Preparation of the the Sacrament of 1st Reconciliation will take place in the fall of 2021 followed by the reception of the Sacrament in December of 2012. The Sacrament of 1st Eucharist will be administered in the spring of 2022. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We pray for each other, those affected by this virus and for the caregivers who dedicate themselves with great generousity.

Catholic Near East Welfare Association(CNEWA) has lauched an emergency campaign to rally prayers and funds for Lebanon. Donations can be made online at cnewa.org/ca/campaigns/lebanoncrisis or by phone at 1-866-322-4441. Cheques can be made to “CNEWA Canada” and mailed to CNEWA Canada at 1247 Kilborn Place, Ottawa, ON K1H 6K9, marked “Lebanon”. Tax receipts will be issued for donations of $10 or more. An agency of the Holy See, CNEWA works for, through and with the Eastern churches throughout the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Ukraine. Founded by Pope Pius XI in 1926, CNEWA provides pastoral and humanitarian support to the churches and people of the East. CNEWA Canada was incorporated as a registered charity by Canada Revenue Agency in 2003.

The Pregnancy Centre reopened on Monday July 13th and is happy to announced that they are able to see clients in person again! (one client at a time and by appointment only). If you would like to donate to the Baby Bottle Campaign, there is still time to do so. You can either donate through the website or send a cheque in the mail. (www.algomapregnancy.com) So far we have raised $31,000.00 and are inching closing to our goal of $40,000.00. Thank you so very much for all who have donated already, your gift means so much to so many. Please continue to pray that we are able to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our clients while keeping everyone safe

It is with great regret that we have made the decision to cancel this summer’s VBS based on the advice of public health professionals. We plan to run Rocky Railway VBS August 9-13, 2021 and hope that you will be available to take part.