Welcome to St Isidore Cluster!

sacred heart
visitation
meyer
school
Sacred Heart Church
Visitation Church
Meyer
S.H. School

Greetings from Father Jack

Sacred Heart pastoral and finance councils met Monday, February 13, in a joint session to discuss any immediate decisions that might need to be made as a result of the decision to close the school. Sacred Heart will maintain its facilities as they are for the next year while committees are formed so adequate studies can be conducted to determine a viable long-range plan. Read More

Your gift to the Retirement Fund for the Religous provides much needed support. Use the bulletin insert / form to make a donation.

Grief to Hope meetings
The Grief to Hope fellowship has changed its format this year. We are meeting every other week during Lent at 5:30pm for a program and discussion. A potluck dinner will follow for fellowship, further discussion, and support. If you have suffered a loss of a loved one and find it difficult to learn a new way of life without your loved one, this group may be able to offer you support as you grieve your loss. This group has a long history of being present and walking with others through their grief to a place of hope for the future. Come join us as we work through our grief together.

Our Lenten speaker schedule:
Tuesday, February 28 - Pastor Bruce Kaltwasser,
Tuesday, March 15 - Pastor Gary Gilbert,
Tuesday, March 27 - Pastor Sam Mack,

Matching Grant Raffle
The Catholic United Matching Grant Raffle began selling tickets on February 1-you can win great prizes! To purchase a ticket contact a Catholic United officer. The price is only $10 a ticket and proceeds will go to the Visitation Religious Faith Formation. The drawing will be on April 4 and you need not be present to win.

Diapers for Haiti
Anyone interested in making diapers for Haiti, please contact Mary Brumm at
710-2330. There are several boxes of suitable material along with a pattern,
Velcro strips, and a sample available.

Joy of Givers Community Club
The Evergreen Senior Living based Knit/Crochet Club, The Joy Givers, has expanded into a community group. We are looking for new members as our fingers are always flying and there are many great projects such as contributing baby blankets and hats, afghans, mittens, scarves hats, sweaters, and lap robes to Mason City homeless shelters, the Women’s Crisis Center, several local mitten trees, and hospitals in Iowa City, Des Moines, and Rochester. The Joy Givers meet once a month on the second Thursday at Evergreen Senior Living at 2:00pm to knit and crochet together. If you would be interested in joining our group or donating yarn, please call Kate Waitek at Evergreen Senior Living at 732-3300 or contact any of the ladies pictured above.

Ministry Schedules Available

New Ministry Schedules are out for Visitation Church and Sacred Heart.
Note NEW Mass times for Ash Wednesday.

A note from Jean Bensend and Linda Stefl: Thank you to those Sacred Heart parishioners that filled out the time and talent sheets this fall. Volunteers are still needed to help with the various ministries of the liturgies. We are asking all current ministers that did not fill out a sheet to do so. If you have been helping with our liturgies we are continuing to place you on the Ministry Schedule. Please consider adding you name to our list of Liturgy Ministers. Many hands make light work. Call Jean at 732-4767 or Linda at 732-4664 if you have any questions.

“Telephone Reassurance” for the elderly

Good Shepherd Inc. of Mason City is offering a free program for senior citizens called “Telephone Reassurance”. At a specific time each day, an operator will call the subscriber, or the subscriber may choose to call in and report that they are all right. If the person has not called in at the designated time, someone on our staff will call them. If there is still no answer to repeated phone calls, someone designated by the caller will be sent to check on the them. Applications are available in the back of both Sacred Heart and Visitation Churches, and the Cluster Office. This is a free service!

virtus

Catechists please visit this site to stay current with this program: http://www.virtus.org/virtus/

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

You may have noticed that we have added a line in the Stewardship report in the left column. Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) are when parishioners have their weekly donation taken directly out of their checking or savings account. We currently have 19 parishioners using this option. It is easy to sign up and you won’t have to remember your envelope every week. Contact Roger at the Cluster Office for more information.

Homebound Request

Requests from the Homebound
1) Requests are surfacing from the homebound for Communion to be brought to them. Thanks to those who are already taking Communion to others. If you are a Eucharistic Minister, consider this opportunity to share the Eucharist. 2) Are you willing to bring someone to weekend Mass? We have many parishioners who want to come, but are unable to drive. Contact Sr. Millie or the Cluster Office to volunteer.

Volunteer for Mass Ministry / Funeral Ministry

Being involved in one of our Mass Ministries or Funeral Ministries is a great way to use your talents in the church. We can use ministers in all areas, and the ministers for funerals are always short. If you would like to volunteer at funerals to be a Songleader, Sacristan, Eucharistic Minister, Lector, or Altar Server, or to volunteer at a weekend Mass, please call the Cluster Office.