The Alpha journey begins NEXT WEEK! The adventure kicks off Sunday evening, October 6, from 5:30pm - 7:00pm. It will then run every Sunday at that same time for 11 weeks. Have to miss a week or two? That's okay - still try it out! Registration forms are in the Gathering Space or sign up on our website. Questions? Contact Maggie England in the office: m.england@dbqarch.org; 319-233-6179.

Registration is now open for Wednesday night RE. Classes for K-8th Grade students begin September 18 and run from 6:20pm - 7:30 pm at Sacred Heart School. Registration can be done online at: https://waterloocatholics.org/reregistration or by calling Annie Zeets at 319-233-0744.

Join us for "Music on the Lawn" at Blessed sacrament! Saturday, July 13th at 6:00 PM on the lawn in front of the parish office/rectory. This event is being hosted by our newly formed Social Concerns Commitee and is their first "fund/friend" raiser! Come, listen to some good music, learn more about what our Social Concerns Committee is and what they hope to do in this next year to provide support to those in need in our local community. A good will offering will be asked, which will go towards paying for at least one of the musical acts that night, along with giving the Social Concerns Committee a little seed money for special needs that arise. Bring a lawn chair, a cooler for your drinks, and your own food or favorite snacks. This should be a great summer evening spent outdoors with your friends in faith listening to some good music by local musicians from here and around Northeast Iowa!

Join our new Seminarian Intern, Jacob Francois, for an 8-week study on the Story of Divine Mercy, St. John Paul II, and St. Faustina. Jacob studied in Krakow, Poland, for two years before studying at Mundelein Seminary. He will provide personal insights and testimony to Fr. Michael Gaitley's study entitled, "The Second Greatest Story Ever Told." Begins May 28th and will meet weekly on Tuesday evenings around 6:00pm (following 5:30 Mass). The last session will meet on July 30th. You can register for this study through our parish website or by signing up in the Gathering Space.

Join us in giving our new Summer Seminarian Intern Jacob Francois a warm Blessed Sacrament welcome! Jacob is a native of Cedar Rapids and comes from a large Catholic family. He is the oldest of 6 kids and graduated from Xavier High School in 2016. He studied theology and philosophy at Loras & Benedictine College where he graduated in 2019. Jacob has had previous experience teaching as the department head of theology at Don Bosco in Gilbertville and as the director of youth and young adult ministry at St. Patrick's in Cedar Rapids. Jacob received a master's and a licentiate degree in Krakow, Poland where he studied theology and philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. John Paul II in 2022. Jacob is now a theologian studying at Mundelein Seminary for the Archdiocese of Dubuque. His hobbies include hiking, skiing, fishing, canoeing, coffee, and traveling.

SEPTEMBER 3 - 13, 2024: Explore the vibrant cities of Athens and Corinth, where St. Paul wrote some of his most powerful letters that continue to inspire and guide us today. Cruise to the enchanting city of Ephesus in Turkey, where tradition holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary spent her last days on earth. Step onto the sacred grounds of Patmos, where the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelations, and walk in the very footsteps of St. Paul and his disciples as they traveled to Greece to share the Good News! $5,500 Package includes: 11 days / 9 nights; 4-star hotels (rated by standards of country); double occupancy; 2 meals per day; Admission to all sites; Air Condition/WiFi on buses; Catholic tour guide; All gratuities. There is still space to fill on this trip. To guarantee the $5,500 price, you need to REGISTER BY JUNE 6! Contact Eddie Abufarha at 800-867-0306 to learn more.

Calling all those Green Thumbs out there who are interested in helping feed the needy in the Cedar Valley. Our Blessed Sacrament raised garden beds have helped the Queen of Peace kitchen reach out to our local community to help provide a meal every Tuesday night. We have provided the kitchen with homegrown vegetables for the last four years! We need people like yourself, willing to sacrifice a little time with the watering, the weeding, and the harvesting of these wonderful vegetables. Please contact Deacon Mike Knipp at 319-610-3202. We look to plant by Monday, May 13th.

Please consider being a part of our newly formed Social Concerns Committee! We are a group that is focused on outreach in our local community. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 4, at 6L:00 pm in Putz Hall. Just come and see what we are up to. I think you will see what a fun and heartfelt experience it can be to help those around us who only need to feel that others care. Fort questions, please call Deacon Mike Knipp at 319-610-3202.

This year we have two elected Pastoral Council positions opening up and we have wo candidates willing to serve in this capacity. Next weekend, we will have an election and might note that we have one candidate for each of the available positions. This means we will have an election by acclamation at each Mass rather than a paper ballot vote.

Are you interested in joining a bus trip to the National Eucharistic Congress NEXT year? Waterloo Catholic Parishes are considering sponsoring a bus to the Congress, which will be held July 17-21, 2024 in Indianapolis, but we need to know if a sufficient number of people are interested. Participation is limited to 50 persons and priority will be given to members of the Waterloo parishes prior to January 1, 2024. To learn more, simply CLICK on this article.

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the Eucharistic Pilgrimage Event at Blessed Sacrament Church at 1:00 pm on Sunday, April 21, 2024. All are welcome! The event will include: 1:00 pm: Reconciliation & Eucharistic Adoration 2:00 pm: Celebration of Holy Mass 3:00 pm: Thanksgiving Eucharistic Adoration The afternoon will conclude with a social and light refreshments. More information can be found at www.dbqarch.org/eucharistic-pilgrimage. Seating is limited for this free event.

Reflections on the Triduum: Join Seminarian Intern Peter Binder in the Church on Sunday, March 24 @ 6:30 PM for reflections on the three most important days of the liturgical year: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. We will explore the historical and theological roots of these striking liturgies and draw out what they mean for our own lives. Whether or not you've attended these liturgies before, they contain so much that can speak to our experience.

SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2024 AT THE MAJESTIC MOON. Social Hour begins at 6pm. Save the date and plan to celebrate in the Easter Season with an evening that will sure to be a blast with your Parish family & friends! A Dueling Pianos night is coming, along with a silent auction, food, beverages, good music and good conversation. This is a fundraising event. More details to come soon. For now, please save the date! We have parish volunteers seeking donations for the silent auction. Thias is a great opportunity to help us out. If you, or your business, or your family would like to help us by donating a package, please contact the Parish Office at 319-233-6179.

ATTENTION LADIES OF BLESSED SACRAMENT! The Parish Life Committee is looking for two women to be the new coordinators for the Spring Salad Supper & Vendor Show. We have all the notes you need from the previous coordinators of this event to help you plan and we even have parishioners who are willing to help with certain aspects of the evening itself. This is a great gift to give the women of the Parish. Team up with a friend, a family member, or a small group of friends to run this fun and well-attended event for our Parish! If interested, please contact Parish Life Committee Chair: Kelley Schmitz at schmitz_kelley@yahoo.com or (515)-689-6279.

Beginning this weekend, December 9-10, we will officially be starting a Children's Offering at each Mass. Offering boxes are again available for pickup after Mass to children up to 10 years of age. These boxes can be kept at home for children to put money in during the week as they think about how they can help the church (or others), then brought to Mass with them on the weekend where they will have the opportunity to walk up to the altar at collection time and empty them into a designated container. The number of boxes we have available is limited, so please contact the office if you need one after this week. We hope this will encourage sacrificial giving in our next generation of members!

Next weekend (Sept 23/24) is our regularly scheduled Food Pantry collection in support of those in need who frequent St. Vincent de Paul for help. Food is, once again, needed, and there are blue bags in the Gathering Space to help. Here are the needs: Cereal, Soup, Saltine Crackers, Peanut Butter, Spaghetti, Spaghetti Sauce, Fruit Juice, Canned Diced Tomatoes, Chili Mix, V-8 Juice (for chili), Chili Beans, Stove Top Stuffing, Au Gratin Potatoes.

Last weekend, we bid farewell to our own Matthew Evans, who is starting classes this week at Loras College for seminarian formation. If you would like to stay in touch with Matthew by sending him a card or letter of support from time to time as he walks this journey, his address is: Matthew Evans, Vianney House, 1235 Mt. Loretta Ave., Dubuque, IA 52003.

Some of our liturgical ministries need more help, and all of us make up the Church, the Body of Christ. Please consider stepping forward to help as Altar Servers, Eucharistic Ministers, Greeters & Ushers, and Music Ministry (all ages). Training will be provided for all of them. Please contact Maggie in the Parish Office if you are willing to join any of these ministries.

Are you downsizing and have things to get rid of? Are you clearing household goods from an estate? Blessed Sacrament parishioners are offering Estate of Grace Sale Services for those willing to donate the proceeds back to Blessed Sacrament parish. At your location, we will set up for a sale, advertise the sale, staff the sale, and dispose of what remains after the sale. If you are interested in discussing or scheduling a sale with us, please call Margaret Klein at 319-429-1907.