FORTY HOURS / PARISH MISSION 2024

Click Below For 40 Hours Facts and Traditions

Father Kevin will speak at all of the Masses Saturday, October 26th and Sunday, October 27th

Come to the Mission: “Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening” 
Dear Parishioner, 
Please accept this invitation as members of Saints Simon and Jude Parish to attend our " Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening " Mission, conducted by the Redemptorists. 
A Parish Mission is a series of presentations on the Word of God. Each evening is different, yet, each evening will consist of a proclamation of the Word, reflections, singing and praying together. It will be a grace-filled happening, an opportunity to experience in a special way the saving presence of God. If you have abandoned the faith of your youth, the mission is for you. If you have been on-again, off-again in the practice of your Catholic religion, the mission is for you. If you have wondered what is going on in the Church today, the mission is for you. 
If you have been faithful to your Catholic duties, the mission is for you. If you feel you need to know more about how to pray, the mission is for you. If you judge yourself to be in need of spiritual growth, the mission is for you. If you are a sinner or a saint or somewhere in between, the mission is for you. 
The mission is for everyone, but especially for you.


What Is A Parish Mission:
 
A Parish Mission is a special time when the community gathers together for better understanding of our Catholic faith. It is a time for grace and renewal of the parish through services and talks filled with stories, examples and meaning. It is a time to equip the people of God to better live out the faith in the world today.  God's Word is proclaimed through the Bible, Catholic Doctrine, through life, learning and personal experiences.
 
We strongly encourage parishioners  to take time out of their schedule to come to our upcoming parish mission and to seek to be renewed and uplifted in their faith journey. It is one thing to give someone a gift, but it is not able to be appreciated unless you take the time to open it. Come open the gift of a parish mission.
Excerpt from Pope John Paul II 
With great emphasis, I repeat what I already wrote in the Apostolic Letter Catechesi Tradendae: 
There is nothing which will replace the parish mission in the periodic and vigorous renewal of Christian life! 
I exhort you: re-establish them; re-evaluate them; refurbish them with updated methods adapted to the parishes according to the needs of the local churches. 
We must admit realistically and painfully that today many Christians feel confused, perplexed and even sometimes deceived. Ideas contrary to the revealed Truth of Scripture as always taught by the Church are being blatantly spread about, causing confusion and doubt in the realm of belief and morality. Immersed in the intellectual and moral relativism and the consequent permissiveness of our times, Christians are tempted to atheism, to agnosticism and to a vague form of Christianity with no definite doctrine and no objective morality. We must strike at the root of this with the preaching of salvation meant for all, provided God's mercy is not consciously and hard-heartedly rejected, a salvation that is indeed true and does indeed entail a definite style of living as disciples. 
The Mission must be a time of encouragement. It must be effective in prayer and penance and conversion for those who have lost faith and God's grace through sin. It must call routine Christians to a life more in accord with the Beatitudes, with the full following of Jesus Christ. 
I wish to tell all mission preachers to persevere in this magnificent work. It is necessary and urgent today. Blessed are you if you announce the truth of the Gospel, the hope that consoles, the certitude which gives joy now and forever. Blessed, too, those parishes and communities which welcome you in the celebration of a parish Mission, those who have ears to hear and eyes to see the good news of God's mercy in this life leading to unending happiness forever. To you, preachers and collaborators, to those in the pastoral ministry who cooperate with you and to all who are touched by God's Spirit through your efforts, I pledge my prayers and impart my blessing. 
Joannes Paulus II


Parish Mission Prayer 
GOD, OUR FATHER, WE OFFER YOU PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING FOR ALL THE MANY GIFTS YOU HAVE GIVEN US THROUGH JESUS, YOUR SON. WE THANK YOU ESPECIALLY FOR THE GIFT OF OUR PARISH MISSION. LOVING AND GRACIOUS GOD, QUIET OUR MINDS AND HEARTS, THAT WE MAY BE OPEN TO THE GIFT OF YOUR TRUTH. GRANT THAT OUR MISSION MAY BE: A TIME OF GRACE FOR ALL, A TIME OF GROWTH FOR THE YOUNG, A TIME OF REFRESHMENT FOR THE OLD A TIME OF RENEWAL FOR FAMILIES, A TIME OF HEALING FOR THE BROKEN, A TIME OF JOY FOR THE SORROWING, A TIME OF CHALLENGE FOR THE COMPLACENT, A TIME OF FORGIVENESS FOR THE SINNER, A TIME OF STRENGTH FOR THE HOLY, A TIME OF HOMECOMING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN AWAY. GRANT, MOST LOVING GOD, THAT OUR MISSION MAY BRING DOWN YOUR RICHEST BLESSINGS ON EACH AND EVERY MEMBER OF OUR PARISH COMMUNITY. WE PRAY THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF MARY, OUR MOTHER, IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST WHO LIVES WITH YOU AND THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER. AMEN.

40 Hours / Parish Mission Schedule
Sunday, October 27 - Tuesday, October 29, 2024


Throughout the 3 days and nights, from Sunday at 1 pm through Tuesday night, the church or chapel will be open for prayer and adoration of Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist. Come be still and say thank you Lord!