Check out the latest issue of the St. Clare School Connection Newsletter.

Gratitude for Your Support! It takes a lot to run a parish family – primarily, faith-filled, loving, generous people. Your extra support is needed as we face a small shortfall at the end of our fiscal year on June 30. You can see what we need and why in the message and summary report below from Toni Stanton, our part-time business manager. I am so grateful to her for donating many extra hours to keep us running smoothly. This report is our Operating Budget of weekly expenses ...READ MORE

HOPE FOR THE JOURNEY - Wednesday, June 21 at 2:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall and 7:00 p.m. in Room 3. Hope for the Journey is for anyone that has experienced the loss of a loved one, recent or not. We meet for prayer, encouragement, suggested reading, and to walk this journey with you...READ MORE

Signs of the Holy Spirit…Praise God for the amazing feast of Pentecost last Sunday and the beautiful festival of the Holy Spirit that so many of our parishioners helped make happen! I can’t say thanks enough to all of those who gave so much of their time and talent for the Pentecost Festival: + The Hospitality Committee, led by Jaclyn Gross, and our set-up crew were there most of Saturday and all day Sunday doing the prep, serving, cleaning up and taking down – wow!...READ MORE

Read the June 2023 issue of the Diocesan newsletter, "The Belleville Deacon"

A Blessed Pentecost to You! This great feast of Pentecost gives us as a parish an opportunity to really celebrate the gifts of the Holy Spirit so visible in our midst here at St. Clare. Our parish picnic this weekend especially celebrates our unity in the midst of our diversity. The various ethnic groups represented at the picnic help us see how diverse our parish is: from the founding immigrant European families who moved here in the 1800’s to the newer parishioners from cultures around the world. I am so grateful to all who helped with the picnic planning, especially our talented parishioners who made all the food. Two other important topics/dates...READ MORE

APRIL/MAY CLASS: The last two months of formation were focused on the study of Catholic Sexual Morality teaching. We learned how to better understand, dialogue and respond to the many cultural challenges to the Christian view of sexuality. The course discussed how many sexual images appear in our society, but it is rare to find a coherent discussion on the meaning and purpose of human sexuality. The course examined God’s design for married love according to the teachings of the Catholic Church...READ MORE

St. Clare Parish Women’s Spirituality Group Presents: Church Architecture and Spirituality St. Clare of Assisi Roman Catholic Church Thursday, June 15 at 6:00 PM Join other women of the parish and Father Jim for a tour and talk about the images and symbolism of our architecture and sacred art with ways they can deepen our spirituality...READ MORE

We are so blessed to have such an active “Respect Life Ministry” here at St. Clare, with lots of faithful members led by Mary Fleming. I am grateful for how this team stays proactive on many life issues. We are honored to be hosting a special Mass with Bishop McGovern on May 31 at 6:00 p.m. to pray especially for various life issues being challenged in our state and local area. See the invitation from our bishop below, and plan to join us for this important prayer time for a greater respect for human life in all its stages...READ MORE

24 HOUR EUCHARISTIC ADORATION: Sunday, JUNE 4 from 11:40am until 11:40am to Monday, JUNE 5, followed with Benediction and Mass at Noon. If you plan on coming during 7pm-7am, please call the parish office by to use a keypad code on the door in the Mary Shrine. Come spend some quiet time in Adoration! If you can commit to an hour, sign-up sheets are on the table in the Gathering Space or sign up online.

Happy Mother’s Day! I am always amazed at women who are called to be ‘moms’ who do so much for their children and family life. In addition to being extremely grateful for my own mom, who taught me so much about love and kindness to others, I am also grateful to all the moms in our parish who inspire me by their generosity...READ MORE

Celebrating Deacon Ordinations June 3, 2023 - St. Clare Parish is so honored to have two candidates for Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate: Dan Kimutis (wife Kris) and Len Ratajczyk (wife Tami). Please mark your calendars for two important dates: + 3 June ~ their Ordination at St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville + 28 May ~ our parish’s (pre) celebration taking place at our Pentecost Festival Dan and Len have been very involved in various ministries at St. Clare and we are quite excited that our Bishop has appointed them to remain at our parish for their assignment as Deacons. Len’s “First Mass” as deacon will be Sunday, June 4, at the 8:30 Mass and Dan’s “First Mass” as deacon will be Sunday, June 4, at the 10:30 Mass... READ MORE

Celebrate the Holy Spirit in our Parish! Save the Date!! Sunday, May 28 following the 10:30 Mass. I want to encourage each of you to save the date and be a part of our annual Parish Pentecost Festival on Sunday, May 28. For those who are new to the parish or have never been before, this is a super fun, great food and music event to celebrate the Spirit of Pentecost and the diverse ethnicities within our own parish. Tickets go on sale after Mass next weekend ...READ MORE

Guatemala Good News! This past Tuesday night, the group of us who were on the recent mission trip to our Sister Parish in Guatemala, presented photos and stories of all the great things our financial support and prayers are accomplishing there. A few highlights are: 1. Scholarship Students – we are able to sponsor 30 students this year, helping young people in need finish their high school years. One great ‘success story’ is Juan Jose, who went on to become an attorney and stayed in the area helping others in need. (see photo)

Happy Easter! I want to thank everyone who helped make the holy days of the Triduum and Easter Sunday so special. Wow, rough estimates show that over 250 parishioners volunteered in making it so prayerful and beautiful! Let me try to name a few at the risk of missing someone....READ MORE

Read the April 2023 issue of the Diocesan newsletter, "The Belleville Deacon"

A Happy and Blessed Easter to You! Praise God for the many signs of Christ’s Resurrection here at St. Clare! I see it in the lives of our parishioners who continue to grow spiritually and live their faith at home and in the community by their words and actions. During these next seven weeks of Easter may each of us seek out ways that we can be people of the Resurrection in what we say and do that ‘gives life’ to others. Our parish offers a special welcome to all those among us this weekend who are ‘coming back’ to the Church for Easter. I pray that if you have been away for a while, the Holy Spirit will touch your heart with a renewed commitment ...READ MORE

CLASS SUMMARY: We visited Saint Meinrad Monastery in Indiana and finished study on the Holy Trinity. We learned about how the early Church struggled with defining the identity of Jesus Christ. For example, there was significant debate on whether Jesus was created by God and perhaps divine but still less than God. Ultimately, the debate and divine guidance led to ...READ MORE

Making Holy Week HOLY - Like many religious holidays, for many people, Easter has simply become a vacation with the kids out of school. Part of this is due to people’s crazy schedules they have created, with little time to focus on the most important days of our ChristianCatholic calendar – the Triduum. In the insert, you can read and learn about these three Holy Days which help us stay centered on the core of who we are as Christian Catholics. Do all you can to make all three of these holy days since they are all ‘connected’ to each other...READ MORE