Category: Newsletter

Totus Tuus Registration is Open!

Totus Tuus is like Catholic Vacation Bible School. It’s a perfect opportunity for your kids or grandkids to get out of the house, have an amazingly fun time and learn more about their Catholic faith.

Totus Tuus will be hosted at St. Thomas More Church and School the week of July 10-15.

The 1st through 5th grade program will meet on July 11-15 from 9am – 2:30pm

The 6th through 12th grade program will meet on July 10-14 from 7pm – 9pm.

Cost: $10 per student, maximum $50 per family

Registration will open on Wednesday, June 1st, at 6pm at an event hosted in the STM cafeteria/social hall. We anticipate that this program will fill to capacity quickly, so bringing your registration forms and fees to this event is your best chance of securing a spot for your child. Registration forms will be available on the Midtown Catholic Website the week prior to registration opening.

We also need host families and volunteers to feed and house our four Totus Tuus Missionaries during the week that they are here. Please consider volunteering for one of these opportunities.

For more information on registration and volunteering, please contact Rachel Bielstein at rjbielstein@midtowncatholic.church or 402-556-1456.

Scrip Fundraising

Fundraiser for St. Thomas More Parish and School works by putting your everyday household purchases to work by using Scrip.

What is Scrip?

Scrip/Hope cards are simply gift cards that our parish purchases at a discount and then we sell to you at full face value.  You receive the full face value from your purchase and our parishes get a percentage of the sale.  Scrip is available for grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and a variety of other department, home improvement, and entertainment stores.

How does the Scrip/Hope Program work? 

Our Scrip/Hope retailers provide rebates between 2 percent and 20 percent.  So, for example, if you buy a $50 face/5% rebate grocery Scrip card, then you can purchase $50 in groceries and St. Thomas More receives a $2.50 rebate.  If you buy $50 face/20 percent dining card, then you can enjoy a $50 dining experience and St. Thomas More enjoys a $10 rebate. You will receive a credit on next year’s tuition that is equal to 50% of the total rebate earned.

How to purchase the gift cards?

You can purchase Scrip cards before or after the weekend Masses at St. Thomas More. You can also purchase them at the parish office as well as the school office.

Check out the order form to which vendors are available.

Order Form

Totus Tuus – Can I volunteer?

Yes, and thanks for asking!

In order to make this program happen, we need your help! We are looking for:

• Host families: Since the missionaries are traveling from parish to parish, they need a place to stay! We need two families to host our missionaries from Saturday afternoon, July 9 through Saturday morning, July 16. Two missionaries would be staying with you (women in one home, men in the other). We ask that these families provide breakfast for the missionaries each morning. Contact Rachel for more information.
• Parent and High School Volunteers for the Day program
• Meals: We need volunteers to prepare/order lunch and host dinner for our missionaries during the week. Contact Rachel for more information.

Priesthood Ordinations

Archbishop Lucas will ordain two men to the priesthood this Saturday. We highly recommend attending the ordination at 10am on June 4th at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral. If you are somewhat concerned about the priest shortage and would be open to having your son or grandson become a priest, this is a great celebration to plant a seed of an idea in someone’s heart. You can read more about our two new priests Brett Jamrog and Minh Tran here.

Security at St. Joan of Arc

Funds from the St. Joan of Arc Development dinner several years ago will be used to upgrade our security system at the church and school this summer. In light of too many tragic school shootings in our country, new policies along with the new system will be put into place to ensure the safety of our students and teachers. These policies will affect our adorers’ routine a bit, but shouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience after working out the kinks and getting everyone on the same page. The new procedures are not ready to be published, but we wanted to give you a heads up.

Momento Mori

A new funeral page has been created for our website. Suggested enhancements are welcome.

Midtown Parish Council

The Midtown Catholic Parish Council will be meeting on Tuesday, May 31st at 7pm. We’ll be meeting in St. Joan of Arc’s Teachers’ Lounge. An agenda has not been formalized but here are the likely topics: new board members, Journey of Faith pastoral planning, and finalizing the new council bylaws.

There are a few people who have expressed interest in becoming a council member, which is great. Anyone else? Here’s an application.

Ascension Masses

Wednesday at 5:30 PM at St. Thomas More

Thursday at 7:00 AM at St. Thomas More

Thursday at 8:15 AM at St. Thomas More

Thursday at 8:30 AM at St. Joan of Arc

Thursday at 6:00 PM at St. Joan of Arc

(The Solemnity of the Ascension is a Holy Day of Obligation)

Low-Gluten

Did you know you can receive low-gluten communion hosts at any of our weekend Masses? The priest carries a special container of low-gluten hosts during communion time. When approaching the priest, just indicate to him that you would like to receive a low-gluten host. Easy peasy.

Joy of Giving

Today is the day to give to your favorite Catholic organizations. Join us today as we celebrate the parishes, schools, ministries and organizations of the Archdiocese of Omaha!

St. Thomas More

St. Joan of Arc

Consortium Schools (St. Thomas More and the Dual Language Academy)

Totus Tuus

Midtown Catholic is hosting Totus Tuus this summer! Totus Tuus is like vacation bible school with a Catholic flavor. Missionaries come to our parishes and they do all the teaching and activities. We just help them pull off the best week our kids will experience this summer.

Learn more about how to register your child or grandchild as well as volunteer in other ways – Read Here.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Did you know St. Thomas More does a little extra to help our youngsters grow in their faith?

EMHC & Lector Training

We are always in need of more people to serve as lectors and Extra Ordinary Ministers of Communion (EMHC). Please consider getting involved. Eligible candidates–practicing Catholics, in good standing, at least a rising junior in high school–can register at this link.

The archdiocesan portion of this formation is online and the timing is flexible.

Teaching ‘Mass’

On Thursday, May 12 at 6:30pm at St. Thomas More Church Fr. Frank will will be doing a “teaching Mass” for our new Catholics who just joined the Church. While you may have experienced one of these during an actual Mass, Fr. Frank will not actually be celebrating the Mass. However, he will be going through every part of the Mass and giving a thorough explanation. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Office Walk-In Hours

Our walk-in office hours will be changing starting next week on May 16th. Walk-in office hours will be from 8am – 2pm, Monday – Friday.

Beginning May 27th, we begin our summer office hours, which means the office will close at 12pm on Fridays.

If you need anything after those hours, please call ahead.

Keeping Catholic Schools in our Neighborhoods

The Omaha Catholic Consortium Schools are fulfilling the mission of keeping schools in our neighborhoods. Please consider giving to the Consortium on May 18th.

The Joy of Giving day is ONE WEEK AWAY

On May 18,  we hope you’ll show us your support during the Archdiocese of Omaha’s Joy of Giving Day! 

All donations we receive during Joy of Giving will help:

• Increase teacher compensation rates and benefits
• Update our school buildings
• Offer more tuition assistance funds to families who desire a Catholic education
• Provide necessary funds to help cover operational expenses 

Giving has begun! Advance donations are being accepted now through May 18.

More good news: Generous supporters have offered to match all gifts for the Joy of Giving! When you give, you will double the impact. 

Pastoral Planning Kick-Off

Pastoral planning is in full swing throughout the archdiocese. If you recall, parishes in the 23-county archdiocese will make important structural decisions in the coming months. These decisions are essential for parishes to respond to the current reality facing the Church and achieve the goal of becoming missional communities. Representatives from both parishes will be attending a kick-off on Wednesday, May 4 where information will be shared and questions can be asked.

Get the Vote Out

Good news! Nebraska has primary elections next week! This link can help you find where your polling place is, and you can check and make sure you’re registered. On May 10th, you get the chance to choose who the candidates for your party will be for offices like Governor, US House Representative, and State Senators (if your district is one of the 25 seats up for election/reelection). These seats are extremely important and have an even bigger impact on your daily life than flashier offices. As Catholics we have a responsibility to participating in the policy making and Kingdom building in our communities

Youth Choir Debut Two

The Youth Choir is back. This weekend they’ll be sharing their gifts at the 5:30pm Mass at St. Joan of Arc

Joy of Giving

Counting down the days to May 18th and Joy of Giving Day. Consider helping out our Consortium Schools, which include St. Thomas More, Our Lady of Lourdes, Holy Cross, St. Peter and Paul, St. Bernadette, and the Dual Language Academy. Help them to reach the goal of $30,000 and 150 donors.

Here are a few easy ways that you can support the six schools.

• Make a gift. On May 18, visit https://omaha.igivecatholictogether.org/organizations/omaha-catholic-school-consortium to make a donation. You may also call our office at 402-590-2810 to make a gift via phone or mail a check to us at the address in my signature below. Is May a busy month for you? Advance gifts are possible beginning on May 2. Giving ends at 11:59 p.m. on May 18.
• Share and share alike. Online days of giving are successful because of our own networks, aka YOU. Help us grow our network by sending the attached graphic to your network, also sharing the important work we do and asking them to join in helping make a difference for our students and staff.
• Be socially (media) active. Use your social media networks: post on Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Twitter about Joy of Giving Day, sharing about your passion for Catholic education.

Parish Council

The combined parish councils of St. Thomas More and St. Joan of Arc have competed an update of the bylaws to officially become one Midtown Catholic Council. The new Council will have two vacancies next year. We are seeking two parishioners from St. Joan of Arc to fill those vacancies. Please let Fr. Lorig know if you are interested in serving our family of parishes in this capacity.

Parish Council Member Job Description

Parish Council Member Application

Minutes from March Meeting

Parenting Faith

On Wednesday, May 4th, Midtown Catholic’s Family Formation program (Wednesday Night RE) will be hosting guest speakers for our final parent session of the year. We are opening this event to all interested adults in the parish, so please come join us and learn more about our Family Formation program!

This event will be held in the St. Thomas More School Cafeteria from 6:15 to 7:30pm. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer childcare for families who are not already part of the Family Formation program.

Our speakers are Tina Targy and Cathy Keisling, who will be sharing their experiences in parenting teenagers with a faith-based approach.

Tina Targy is the Events and Volunteer Coordinator at the Institute of Priestly Formation. She also is the Coordinator for the Christ Life program at her home parish, St. Mary’s of Bellevue, NE. She enjoys spending time with her family and participating in the Archdiocese of Omaha Mentorship program. Fun fact: Her son, Will, is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Omaha right now!

Cathy Keisling works at Boys Town. Fun fact: Her son, Eric, served as Midtown Catholic’s Director of Finance and Operations from 2021-2022 and another son, Sean, has served as the President of Roncalli since 2021!

For additional information and questions, please contact Rachel Bielstein at 402-556-1456 or rjbielstein@midtowncatholic.church.

Office Hours

Our walk-in office hours will be changing starting May 16th. Walk-in office hours will be from 8am – 2pm, Monday – Friday. Beginning May 27th, we begin our summer office hours, which means the office will close at 12pm on Fridays. If you need anything after those hours, please call ahead.

Kentucky Derby Party

This is not really a Kentucky Derby party, but you could call it that if you like.  It will be an opportunity to get to know the people sitting around you at church. We are planning something new following the 5 p.m. Mass at St. Thomas More on Saturday, May 7^th.  It is a social gathering in the parking lot, after Mass.  Wine, beer, soda, water, cheese, crackers, and some deserts will be available.  No cost.  Please join us.  Any questions?  Call Joe Benes at 402-681-1062 or Jerry Hassett at 402-650-0360.

The Case for Jesus

TMIY (That Man Is You) Summer Game Plan

Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead?  We will get started with “The Case for Jesus” series from Brant Pitre on Saturday, May 7th.  

The TMIY Men’s Group meets every Saturday at 6am in the St. Thomas More cafeteria.

The series will run for nine weeks.  Breakfast will always be served on the first Saturday of the month.  The resurrection will always be a mystery to us.  It is a matter of faith to believe in the resurrection of Jesus.  The resurrection is the single most important detail of our faith.  Paul mentioned a couple of times in his letters that our faith was a hoax, if Jesus did not rise from the dead.  The series from Brant Pitre is a good mix of facts and faith.  It is a great opportunity to augment our faith and improve our ability to speak to those who want to question the legitimacy of the Gospels.  If you have any questions, please contact Jerry Hassett at 402-650-0360.

Teaching Mass with Fr. Baumert

On Thursday, May 12 at 6:30pm at St. Thomas More Church Fr. Frank will will be doing a “teaching Mass” for our new Catholics who just joined the Church. While you may have experienced one of these during an actual Mass, Fr. Frank will not actually be celebrating the Mass. However, he will be going through every part of the Mass and giving a thorough explanation. Everyone is welcome to attend.

What does “Octave” mean?

The Easter Octave begins on Easter Sunday and ends on the Second Sunday of Easter of the Divine Mercy with every day being another solemnity or another “little Easter.” The current title for each of the octave is “Monday in the Octave of Easter,” “Tuesday in the Octave of Easter” etc., but commonly called “Easter Monday,” “Easter Tuesday,” and so forth. The Easter Octave “overrides” any other feasts on the calendar. (https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/easter-octave/)

Divine Mercy Sunday

Pray for our Confirmation Candidates

Eighth Graders from both parishes and religious education will be confirmed this Friday night. “Come, Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Teaching Mass with Fr. Baumert

On Thursday, May 12 at 6:30pm at St. Thomas More Church Fr. Frank will will be doing a “teaching Mass” for our new Catholics who just joined the Church. While you may have experienced one of these during an actual Mass, Fr. Frank will not actually be celebrating the Mass. However, he will be going through every part of the Mass and giving a thorough explanation. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Crusade for Excellence at SJA

It’s time to get your tickets for the Crusade for Excellence Development Dinner.  It’s St. Joan of Arc’s biennial parish and school fundraiser where you can enjoy an evening featuring dinner, auction and fellowship. The theme this year is “Gearing Up for Our Future.” All money raised will go towards the maintenance fund to make building improvements.

The dinner and auction are held after the 5:30pm mass on Saturday, April 30^th.  The silent auction is in the gym and the dinner and live auction are in the cafeteria. We would like all reservations in by the end of the week.

Purchase your tickets or make a donation using the following link: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/sjoaauction/register/

Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0A45AEAD29ABFE3-development

Holy Week Services

Both parishes will have Holy Week services. The only difference will be that RCIA (those joining the Catholic Church) members will be attending services at St. Joan of Arc this year.

Here’s the Holy Week Schedule

Youth Choir

If you plan to attend the 10:30am Easter Sunday Mass at St. Thomas More this year, you are in for a treat. Rachel Bielstein, our Coordinator of Religious Education and Liturgical Music, has been working with a group of talented and enthusiastic youth from both parishes who will be sharing their singing talents with the rest of us for the first time that day. Their next service will be at St. Joan of Arc’s 5:30pm Pentecost Mass.

Children’s Collection

Fr. Frank will be reintroducing the children’s collection at the St. Thomas More Masses this weekend.

Crusade for Excellence

The St. Joan of Arc Crusade for Excellence Development Dinner is a biennial parish and school fundraiser where you can enjoy an evening featuring dinner, auction and fellowship. The theme this year is “Gearing Up for Our Future.” We have made new connections in the recent past and are excited to build and strengthen these partnerships in the future.

All money raised will go towards the maintenance fund to make building improvements.

The dinner and auction are held after the 5:30pm mass on Saturday, April 30^th.  The silent auction is in the gym and the dinner and live auction are in the cafeteria. 

Here’s the link

Divine Mercy Sunday

St. Thomas More annually celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday (2nd Sunday of Easter) with a special program. Come, Sing, and Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy with us in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. All Are Invited to Attend!

• 11:30am – Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
• 12:30pm – 3pm – Confessions
• 1pm – Rosary
• 2pm – Divine Mercy Chaplet – 2pm
• 2:30pm – Benediction
• 2:45pm – Procession
• 3pm – Mass

Pasta and Pancakes

A St. Joan of Arc Lenten Pasta Feed is scheduled for Friday, April 8th 4:30 -8:00 pm. Adults, $10; Children 6-12, $5; Children ages 5 and under, Free. This affordable price includes all-you-can-eat pasta, salad, bread & butter, dessert, & beverage. There’s a single serve to-go option as well. Pop is available for $1. Beer/Wine available for donation. The Pasta Feed is sponsored by the SJA Men’s Club and the Knights of Columbus. Questions, contact Kevin Malick at 402-990-4759 or at kmalick@cox.net.

There will also be a Pancake Feed at St. Thomas More in the cafeteria on Sunday, April 10th, 8:30 – 12pm. Menu includes all the pancakes you can eat along with sausage, coffee, and juice. Free will offering. Proceeds go to SVdP Conference at STM.

SJA Development Dinner – April 30

The Crusade for Excellence Development Dinner is a biennial parish and school fundraiser where you can enjoy an evening featuring dinner, auction and fellowship. The theme this year is “Gearing Up for Our Future.” We have made new connections in the recent past and are excited to build and strengthen these partnerships in the future.

All money raised will go towards the maintenance fund to make building improvements.

The dinner and auction are held after the 5:30pm mass on Saturday, April 30^th.  The silent auction is in the gym and the dinner and live auction are in the cafeteria.

The Crusade for Excellence Dinner is open to everyone!  Parishioners, SJA parents, DLA (Dual Language Academy) parents, STM friends and families are all welcome.  Invitations will be handed out over the next weeks prior to the event and tickets will be made available online at that time. 

Here’s the link

Easter Egg Hunt

The Knights of Columbus will be putting on an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 9th at Pipal Park at 9am.

Extra Confession Times

We have extra confession times available on Saturday, April 9th from 10am -11:30am at St. Joan of Arc and Tuesday, April 12th from 6:30 – 8pm at St. Thomas More. Extra priests besides Fr. Lorig and Fr. Baumert will be available for the Tuesday evening session at STM.

Women’s Retreat

The SJA Ladies Guild is excited to host a Lenten Retreat April 9th from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. If you haven’t RSVP’d for this free opportunity to deepen your faith journey, please call Amanda Wells, 402-981-2420. This is a FREE event. Bring an open heart and a desire to love. The retreat is open to any woman from either parish and will make for a great opportunity grow in faith and friendship together!

Holy Week Schedule

Here’s a link to see Midtown Catholic’s Holy Week Schedule.