1) Thank you to everyone who supported the O'Meara family at the Lasagna dinner. Estimates are that over 300 people came. There is another opportunity to help- the Knights of Columbus will be hosting a breakfast this weekend after Sunday Masses. Please stop by and support the O'Meara family.

2) Friday we are hosting a training for the USHER ministry. If you are interested in being an USHER (and for more details), please go to mysta.org/LM and click "Usher Training Signup".

3) Thank you to everyone who supported the "Gift of Grace" campaign. St. Thomas Aquinas parishioners contributed over $4500 to the campaign.

4) During the Easter season, I'm offering house blessings! If you'd like to have your house blessed with the Easter water, please either call Brenna at the office or go to mysta.org/bless and we'll get the blessing scheduled! I do ask that you are there when I bless your house, and we can bless as many rooms in your house as you'd like (or if you'd prefer, just the front door).

5) At the time of writing this, we are 70% of the way to our ADA goal! We have 132 households who have contributed so far. If you'd like to help, please go to mysta.org/ADA. We're hoping for 200 participating households.

1) In these days of Easter, as we celebrate the Lord's resurrection, let us boldly go where he beckons. The mission field awaits!

2) Thank you to everyone who made the Easter celebrations so festive. To our musicians, our liturgy committee, to those who worked with the newly initiated Catholics over this past year, to all the staff, and to our many volunteers. You make all we do possible. Please pray for Alex, Dan, and Cody, who joined the church at the Easter Vigil. Also please pray for our candidates for confirmation who will be joining the church at Pentecost.   

3) The next run of ChristLife is a go! I'm excited with the response so far. Thank you for your willingness to participate!

Would you like to meet others in a small group setting? We will begin another round of ChristLife! Discovering, Following, and Sharing Christ will begin June 11. If you'd like to know more about beginning the ChristLife process with Discovering Christ, please go to mysta.org/dc. If you've already completed Discovering Christ and would like to go onto Following or Sharing Christ, please fill out the interest form at mysta.org/cl.   

4) This weekend we will be having a lasagna dinner to benefit the O'Meara family. Kerri has been in the hospital frequently the last few years as she has battled leukemia. Also, we will be having a benefit breakfast after the Masses on April 19.

5) We are resuming the building up of our liturgical ministries. The next liturgical ministry we are rebuilding is the USHER ministry. If you are interested in being an USHER (and for more details), please go to mysta.org/LM and click "Usher Training Signup". 

1) Thursday, April 2nd, we begin the Holy Triduum. These are the most solemn, somber, and holy days of the church year. Holy Thursday and Good Friday will both be at 7 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Holy Thursday is a time to internalize the gifts of the Last Supper.

Good Friday we will have veneration of the cross.

Easter Vigil will begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Masses for Easter Sunday will be 8 a.m., 10:15 a.m., and Noon. I will use incense at every Mass, but the Easter Noon Mass will have light incense.

2) Please pray for Alex, Dan, and Cody, who will be joining the church at the Easter Vigil. Also please pray for our candidates and adult confirmandi who will be joining the church at Pentecost.   

3) Would you like to meet others in a small group setting? We are launching our next session of ChristLife! Discovering, Following, and Sharing Christ will begin June 11. If you'd like to know more about beginning the ChristLife process with Discovering Christ, please go to mysta.org/dc. If you've already completed Discovering Christ and would like to go onto Following or Sharing Christ, please fill out the interest form at mysta.org/cl.   

4) On behalf of all of us here at St. Thomas Aquinas, we wish you all the happiest of Easters. May the gift of the Lord's resurrection permeate your hearts! If we don't see you this weekend, then safe travels!

5) Anyone interested in becoming a registered member of St. Thomas Aquinas should fill out the form found at mysta.org/new

1) Holy Week is here! I don't know about you, but Lent really flew by for me!
On Palm Sunday, we will have a procession from the parish hall at the 4:30 Saturday Mass. Please meet in the parish hall. On Sunday, we will bless the palms (and the congregation) at the 8 a.m. Mass. The 10:15 and Simpson Masses will use the simple entrance- meaning everyone grabs their blessed palms and we sing the Hosanna song and we begin Mass as usual.

2) Holy Thursday and Good Friday will both be at 7 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas. Easter Vigil will begin at 8 p.m. Masses for Easter Sunday will be 8 a.m., 10:15 a.m., and Noon. I will use incense at every Mass, but the Easter Noon Mass will have light incense.

3) We will need extra Liturgical Ministers for the Easter Services. Please consider signing up. All services are now available under the signup link.
 
4) Thank you all for your generosity with the Annual Diocesan Appeal. This last weekend many of you responded to Bishop Joensen's request. I'm waiting for the official report from the Diocese of Des Moines, but initial estimates are that we are just under half way to our 2026 ADA goal. If you'd like more information, please go to mysta.org/ada.

5) Easter flower donations are due by April 1.

1) I had a great time on vacation. I went on a mini-retreat to New Melleray, and prayed for you all daily! I also went up to the Twin Cities to play in their 15+ inches of snow. It was grand. Thanks for the prayers all!

2) We have our first 2026 ADA Update: We're giving away a free gift! Every Household which contributes will receive a St. Thomas Aquinas statue.

We've raised $17,669 and are currently 8th in the Diocese of Des Moines. Please consider helping us reach our goal of $82,385!

We'd like to have 200 households participate in this year's ADA. If you haven't participated in the past, please consider setting up a recurring monthly gift of at least $15.
For more details, please go to mysta.org/ada.

Our numbers so far:
38 participating households
11 households giving 1% or more of the goal
# of househoulds with recurring monthly gifts: Unknown until March 20.

Thank you for your support!

3)  This is a year of ministry building. June 1, Emma Lynch will join us as our Director of Music Ministry. August 1, Thomas Horlander will join us as our FOCUS Parish Missionary. In September, we will be opening a CGS Level III atrium. Thank you all for your prayer and financial support of our parish!

4) We will be hosting a number of liturgical trainings in the coming weeks. Please make sure you are signed up to receive e-mail notifications. Go to mysta.org, scroll to the bottom, and click email/sms signup.  

5) March 25 we will have confessions available beginning at 5:30. Please come and celebrate the sacrament on the feast of the Annunciation!

1) I will be out of the office from March 5- March 16.

2) Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to the "Gift of Grace" campaign. We are working to help with unpaid medical debt for Iowans. So far $9,393.80 has been raised between the churches participating in this initiative. Please see the 3 giving options on the poster board in the gathering space if you wish to make a contribution.

3) Please consider helping us reach our Annual Diocesan Appeal goal of $82,385. This year's ADA is important- we will use any amount that we go over the ADA goal to fund NEW ministries in 2026 and 2027. Our parish is growing weekly, and we need to anticipate future growth while providing exciting opportunities for our current parishioners.

We will be expanding our music ministry June 1, starting a partnership with FOCUS August 1, and launching a CGS Level III atrium this fall. We've been building up to these expansions for several years now. Your gift to this year's ADA will help us earn a refund which will help expand these ministries.

I believe these ministries will provide fruitful avenues for deepening our relationship with Christ and one another, and I'm personally giving to support this expansion. Please join me in prayer for these ministries, and if you are able please support us financially.

I normally give 1% of the total ADA goal as one way of giving back to the parish, but this year I'm giving 2% of the goal- or $1647.70. I'd invite you to consider giving a gift of 1% of the ADA goal, or $823.85.

I know not everyone can give 1% of the goal. Any amount truly helps. Our hope this year is to have 200+ households participate, and we are asking for 30 households to setup recurring monthly gifts of at least $15 per month.

Please go to mysta.org/ada, and be sure to choose Indianola- St. Thomas Aquinas from the drop-down menu.

Alternatively, you can fill out a pledge card and enclose a check and we will send it to the Diocese for you. Make Checks payable to the Diocese of Des Moines and put ADA 609 in the memo line.

Thank you for your support of St. Thomas Aquinas! This is going to be an amazing year!

4) For more information on our FOCUS partnership, please visit https://focus.org/what-we-do/parish/. This is a new initiative, one that FOCUS has been testing for the last 8 years, and is now taking nationwide. We are in the first wave of parishes in Iowa to benefit from this new initiative. 
 
5) Speaking of FOCUS, I'm excited to announce that I've had the opportunity to meet our new parish missionary via video conference! Thomas Horlander will be joining us with his family on August 1. He is currently looking for a house to purchase in the Indianola area (suggestions welcome). He and his wife, Kristen, are originally from Indiana, but have been serving in Bridgeport, PA. Welcome to Thomas and family!

1) I will be out of the office from March 5- March 16.

2) We recently cancelled our tinyurl subscription and have been introducing redirects with our website. If you find a link that doesn't work, please e-mail the office and we will get it fixed (but probably not until I am back in the office).

3) Please consider helping us reach our Annual Diocesan Appeal goal. This year's ADA is important- we will use any amount that we go over the ADA goal to fund ministries in 2026 and 2027.

We will be expanding our music ministry June 1, and we are planning to expand our ministries again August 1. We've been building up to this expansion for several years now. Your gift to this year's ADA will help us expand these ministries.

Please go to mysta.org/ada, and be sure to choose Indianola- St. Thomas Aquinas from the drop-down menu. Thank you for your support of St. Thomas Aquinas!

4) If you are a new parishioner, please register! You don't have to be Catholic to register- the practice of the Diocese of Des Moines is to treat two categories of people as parishioners. First, anyone who is registered at the parish. Second, anyone living within the geographical boundaries of the parish. Please go to mysta.org/new to register as a parishioner.

5) If you are a parishioner in need of the sacraments of initiation, please go to mysta.org/ocia

1) February 28 is ADA launch weekend! Our goal is $82,385, an increase of 3% over last  year. To give, please go to ada.mysta.org. It will redirect to the Diocesan giving page. Please be sure to select Indianola-St. Thomas Aquinas from the drop-down menu.

The ADA supports Diocesan ministries, but also allows us to fund ministries here at St. Thomas Aquinas.

We are hoping to have 30 families who have not given to the ADA in the past join the effort this year by setting up recurring monthly gifts of $15. Thank you for your continued generosity to this initiative!

2) Please continue to pray for our parish as we let down our nets. The Lord is doing amazing work here. This past week, I had one father express interest in confirmation, another person ask about adult baptism, and two more people express interest in our church. I'm discerning with our leadership teams the best way to help welcome the 30+ people who are being drawn to the OCIA and to what the Lord is doing here. Please pray!

3) If you are interested in joining our church, and would like to begin the process to receive the sacraments of initiation, please go to ocia.mysta.org

4) If you are a new parishioner, and want to register at the parish, please go to new.mysta.org. 
 
5) Fridays throughout Lent we will have Fish Fries from 5:30-7 and Stations of the Cross at 7. 

1) Thanks to everyone who submitted a response to the Strong Roots Survey! We had 172 responses with an average 7.12 out of 10! We had broad support for the initiative, but unfortunately we are not able to overcome legal obstacles and the rental will not take place.  

2) Please join us Fridays for our Knights of Columbus Fish Fries! 

3) We will be doing stations of the cross starting at 7p.m. on Fridays during Lent.  

4) During Lent, one of the rubrics (the rules telling us what we are permitted to do during liturgy) is that we are to go sparingly on instrumentation for Masses. This is to enhance the natural beauty of the human voice. Please feel free to sing along with us this lenten season. 

5) I am still waiting for our ADA goal number for 2026. Thank you for your continued generosity to the ADA! 

1) Fr. Adam will be sharing with you about the meaning of his ordination prayer card during his homily this weekend. Please pick up a copy on your way into masses.

2) Ash Wednesday Masses will be 7 am and 7 pm at St. Thomas Aquinas, and noon at Simpson's smith chapel. Please bring any of your last year palms to be burned NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 15.

Please check the bulletin for our many Lenten activities- there are calendars in this weekend's bulletin.

3) Is there something in the (holy) water? There is a God-inspired trend at St. Thomas Aquinas. People have been asking to join the church on a weekly basis from all different walks of life. We are forming groups to journey with those who are seeking to answer the deeper questions of life. If you, or someone you know, would like to join the Catholic Church, please fill out the form at ocia.mysta.org and one of our leadership team will reach out to you.

4) If you would like to officially register as a parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas please go to new.mysta.org.

5) We will be launching our 2026 ADA the week of February 16, and you all should be receiving a mailing from the Diocese around that time. As of 2/12, we do not have our 2026 Diocesan goal.

BUT we do have one goal we as a community are working toward that we can get started on right away.

We need 30 households who did not give last year to setup recurring monthly gifts of $15. The Diocese will cover all fees associated with giving, and your monthly gifts will help us reach our goal every year. Please go to ada.mysta.org and be sure to select Indianola-St. Thomas Aquinas from the drop-down menu and also check "make this a recurring gift". Thank you!

More details to follow.

1) Ash Wednesday is February 18, 2025. Masses will be 7a and 7p at St. Thomas Aquinas, and noon at Simpson. Put your palm branches in the box in the gathering space no later than February 15 so that we can burn them. 

2)  We have a TON of Lenten activities planned. CGS is having a pancake dinner in anticipation of Lent and an open house on Feb 14 and 15 with Lenten activities to take home. Creation Care is hosting a 3-part series and encourages you to sign up. Social Concerns is co-hosting a fund drive to relieve medical debt. The Knights of Columbus are doing fish fries. There will be stations of the cross led by the clergy team. And more! Please check the bulletin, the kiosks, and the signs posted for more information. 
  
3) Our ChristLife retreat is coming up- please keep our ChristLife participants in prayer.

4) Thank you everyone who participated in the 2025 ADA! We CRUSHED our goal, and will be receiving a sizeable refund from the Diocese. The 2025 ADA will wrap up this month. There were 180 households supporting this initiative. 

5) I have another prayer request. Our leadership teams are discerning next steps for us, and it'd be good to lay the foundation in prayer. Please say a prayer or two for our leadership as you go about your day. 

1) End-of-year giving letters will be available after Masses at St. Thomas this weekend, and at the office next week. Please stop by to pick yours up. They will be mailed Friday. 

2)  Thank you to Beth McGinnis, our new bookkeeper, who has caught us up on our bookkeeping. I am happy to report that year over year our operating fund has grown substantially. Our Finance Council voted to move a portion of our operating fund to a reserve in an effort to meet Diocesan guidelines. The Diocese recommends each parish hold in reserve an amount equivelant to 6 months worth of operating expenses.
 
3) I have an exciting announcement to make! At our last Parish Council meeting, the council voted unanimously to pursue a relationship with FOCUS to bring parish missionaries to St. Thomas Aquinas. Currently, only 25 parishes across the country have FOCUS parish missionaries. The next step for us is to make sure we have adequate funding for this initiative. I'm working on a grant application that should cover a signicant portion of the cost. Say a prayer or two for this initiative, if you wouldn't mind.   
 
4) Ash Wednesday is February 18, 2025. Masses will be 7a and 7p at St. Thomas Aquinas, and noon at Simpson. Please bring in your Palm Sunday palms to be burned and used for Ash Wednesday.
 
5) It is that time of year again- all groups are asked to submit their budget for FY27.  Please email them to bookkeeper@mysta.org.

1) An update on the directory: please send any group pictures to Brenna at bblong@mysta.org. We need these pictures by the end of January. We hope to finalize the directory in February.

2) We are working on finalizing the year-end giving letters. They are not ready yet, but will be soon. We will let you know when they are available for pickup.
 
3) Ash Wednesday is February 18, 2025. Masses will be 7a and 7p at St. Thomas Aquinas, and noon at Simpson. Beginning Monday, please bring in your Palm Sunday palms to be burned and used for Ash Wednesday.
 
4) The Diocese of Des Moines is forming another cohort of men interested in the permanent diaconate. If you are interested, please go to dmdiocese.org/diaconate for more information.
 
5) If you'd like to see (and hear) Emma Lynch playing music, please go to https://www.facebook.com/reel/1341878597249758. She will be joining us in June as our Director of Music Ministry.

This week, I'm asking everyone to pray. 

1) Please pray for those who are in hospitals, in care facilities, or those who are homebound. Pary for those who minister to them. With the recent outbreak of Flu, I've been called to the bedside of the dying more frequently in the last few weeks than any other time in my ministry at St. Thomas Aquinas. 

In addition, we are working on getting monthly masses said in each of our care facilities, and currently we are saying Mass in Good Samaritan and Westview. 

2) Please pray for those considering joining the church. Last weekend, after the Sunday Mass, 5 adults approached me about joining and have started the OCIA process. Currently we have over 20 Adults looking to join the Catholic Church.
 
3) Please pray for ChristLife, for the participants, leaders, and helpers. We have around 140 people in the ChristLife process at the moment.

4) Please pray for our Parish Council and Finance Council as we meet this week to discuss significant ministry possibilities at St. Thomas Aquinas. 
 
5) Please pray for all our ministries at St. Thomas Aquinas. As our parish grows, pray that our minsitries may grow to meet our needs.

Thank you all!

1) ChristLife starts January 14! Please remember to sign up if you plan on attending. We will have childcare available. ChristLife's first module, Discovering Christ, may be found here:  https://dc.mysta.org. If you have already been through Discovering Christ, please check your e-mail for an invite to Following/Sharing Christ. 

2) I'd like to extend a special welcome to Beth McGinnis, who is joining our team to help with our bookkeeping. Beth will be starting on Monday. Thank you to Johna and Deb who filled in temporarily to make sure we could pay our bills. I appreciate you!
 
3) At this point in time, every open staff position at St. Thomas Aquinas has been filled. Our Parish Council is currently considering some future growth opportunities, and our Finance Council is weighing what our current level of support allows. Please pray for us! We have some really exciting opportunities in the near future. 

4) We are hoping to move our Thursday Masses to the various care facilities in Indianola. Thursday, January 15 (and every following 3rd Thursday of the month) the Mass will be at Westview care center. The time and room are TBD, although it will be in the morning.

5) On January 19th STARS is hosting a movie night as a thank you to everyone who helped make the Cookie Walk this year a resounding success. This is open to our entire community. For more information, please see this weekend's bulletin. 

1) Thank you to everyone who made the liturgies over Christmas so beautiful! We have a truly amazing community and I'm honored to be a part of it. It was a great joy celebrating the coming of Christ with you all.

2) I'm grateful for everyone who sent me a card for Christmas. I put them up on my door and pray for you when I walk through, and I don't take them down until Advent.

3) Please pray for our college students and chaperones going to SEEK in Columbus January 1-5.

4) ChristLife starts January 14. Please go to https://dc.mysta.org to signup for Discovering Christ. If you've already been through Discovering Christ, please check your e-mail for the signup links for Following Christ/ Sharing Christ.

5) I know I have spoken often these last three years of our financial need, and I want to thank everyone who helped our parish with increased tithing, donations to the Annual Diocesan Appeal, and/or a year-end contribution. We are in a much better place financially now.

Because of your generosity, it is safe to say we are emerging from the financial situation of 2 years ago, when our Operating Fund had just over one month's worth of a reserve and our expenses exceeded our tithing revenue by a wide margin (see my December 2023 letter).
 
Initial estimates show significant growth in our 2025 Operating Fund compared to this time last year. I'll provide a more detailed update mid to late January after our bookkeeping team has a chance to process end of year gifts. Thank you for making what we do here possible!

1) Merry Christmas Everyone! As we continue the 12 days of Christmas, we treat each day like Christmas. Merry Christmas!

2) Mass time for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God will be January 1 at 9 a.m. This is a Holy Day of Obligation.

3) Currently we are building up our OPERATING FUND so that we have the neccesary funds to cover 6 months worth of operating expenses. We need your help!
 
Please consider making a year-end gift to our tithing fund at give.mysta.org.

For more information on year-end giving, please go to yearend.mysta.org.

For more information about what we have planned for future growth, please go to vision.mysta.org

4) Starting in January, we are launching our next run of ChristLife. There is a free meal, prayer, fellowship, and teaching, and we provide childcare! Please signup by going to dc.mysta.org, or by checking your e-mail if you've already attending Discovering Christ or Following Christ.

5) Please pray for our Simpson ministry team and our college students who are going to SEEK in Columbus January 1-5. 

1) Merry Christmas Everyone! I wish you all the best this Christmas season, and I want to express my gratitude to you all. Please see my letter in the Christmas bulletin.

2) "The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear." -Buddy

Please join us in singing our Lord's praises during our liturgies this Christmas season.
 
3) We have books available for you as a present for the Christmas season. Please take one home with you.
 
4) Starting in January, we are launching our next run of ChristLife. There is a free meal, prayer, fellowship, and teaching, and we provide childcare! Please signup by going to dc.mysta.org, or by checking your e-mail if you've already attending Discovering Christ or Following Christ.

5) We are looking to expand our ministry offerings in 2026, but need to be sure the parish supports our growth. Your year-end gifts help us to plan for the future. Please consider making a year-end gift to our tithing fund at give.mysta.org.

For more information on year-end giving, please go to yearend.mysta.org.
For more information about what we have planned for future growth, please go to vision.mysta.org

1) A reminder: Christmas Masses are 4 and 6:30 on Christmas Eve, and 9:30 on Christmas Day. We look forward to welcoming you and your families!

2) We made a change to our digital presence. Now, when you go to mysta.org, it displays our website. We needed to do this so we could qualify for a google for non-profits account. To find the app homepage, you can go to mysta.org and then click "My Church Center" to the right. You can also go to me.mysta.org.

3) We will be rolling out new e-mails for all our staff in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned for the shift- we will be going to @mysta.org for all of our e-mail addresses.
 
4) Signups for ChristLife are NOW OPEN. Please go to dc.mysta.org to begin your ChristLife journey. This is also the process for people entering the Catholic Church, and for those who are new to the parish to get connected more intimately.

If you've already completed Discovering Christ, please check your e-mail or church center announcements for how to join Following Christ or Sharing Christ.

5) We are looking to expand our ministry offerings in 2026, but need to be sure the parish supports our growth. Your year-end gifts help us to plan for the future. Please consider making a year-end gift to our tithing fund at give.mysta.org.

If you'd like to gift stock, the transfer forms are on the Kiosk- please let the Diocese know that St. Thomas is to be the beneficiary of the donation.

If you'd like to gift grain, we also have an account set up with Heartland Co-op- 62951 is the account number.

End of Year Gifts must be post marked by the end of the year, or dropped off in the office by end of business on the 30th to count for 2025. You may donate online through the 31st.

Thank you for your help with St. Thomas Aquinas' future growth!

1) We are excited to welcome Brenna Blong to the St. Thomas Aquinas office team as our new Administrative Assistant! She will be joining us the week after Christmas. More information will be available soon on the website under the "About" section. Please visit stthomasindianola.com to check for updates.

2) By the way, have you seen our new website? It is exceptional and really presents who we are to the digital world. Thank you to Gradient9 for the hard work and creative genius that brought this project to completion. Please go to stthomasindianola.com to check it out!

3) We are looking to expand our ministry offerings in 2026, but need to be sure the parish supports our growth. Your year-end gifts help us to plan for the future. Please consider making a year-end gift to our tithing fund at give.mysta.org.

If you'd like to gift stock, the transfer forms are on the Kiosk- please let the Diocese know that St. Thomas is to be the beneficiary of the donation.

If you'd like to gift grain, we also have an account set up with Heartland Co-op- 62951 is the account number.
Thank you for your help with St. Thomas Aquinas' future growth!

4) Signups for ChristLife are NOW OPEN. Please go to dc.mysta.org to begin your ChristLife journey. This is also the process for people entering the Catholic Church, and for those who are new to the parish to get connected more intimately. 

If you've already completed Discovering Christ, please check your e-mail or church center announcements for how to join Following Christ or Sharing Christ. 

5) Thank you to everyone who participated in the annual STARS Cookie Walk. There was Advent excitement in the air, and lots of people came out to support us. 

1) The STARS Cookie Walk and Vendor Fair is this weekend! Please come out on Saturday to support our STARS. The doors open at 8 a.m. and we'll wrap up the festivities at 11 a.m.

2) Last chance to be in our pictorial directory! Tuesday, December 9 is the last day for photos. So far 225 households have participated; we are hoping to get to 250 so we can get the nicer directory from the company. While the pictures will not be available by Christmas, they will be in the upcoming directory. Signup by going to schedule.ucdir.com, and entering church code: ia368 and password: photos or by calling the parish office. More info at pic.mysta.org.

3) Your generous gifts during December allow us to grow and to plan for ministry and facility needs in the new year.

Your generosity to the Operating Fund (Tithing) in 2024 allowed us to open the Director of Music Ministry position in 2025; thank you! We'd like to grow our team a bit more, but need to make sure the parish would like to see us grow. For year-end giving, please go to give.mysta.org. If your employer offers matching gifts, please consider us!

Our Building Fund remains strong, thanks to your generous support. We were able to install a brand new freezer/cooler, and do a number of minor projects around our facility. At this time, we have no major capital projects in the works, and there is $300,000 in our Building Fund.

4) Signups for ChristLife are NOW OPEN. Please go to dc.mysta.org to begin your ChristLife journey. This is also the process for people entering the Catholic Church, and for those who are new to the parish to get connected more intimately. 

If you've already completed Discovering Christ, please check your e-mail or church center announcements for how to join Following Christ or Sharing Christ. 

5) Christmas Masses will be December 24 at 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and December 25 at 9:30 a.m.

1) Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Thanksgiving Day Mass will be at 9:00 a.m. Please bring an item from your Thanksgiving table to have blessed. A food item, mind you, not a piece of the actual table. There will be no Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Friday after Thanksgiving.

2) Thank you for your prayers for the FOCUS visit this past week. We had two representatives from FOCUS present to our Staff, Simpson College Outreach, and Finance and Parish Councils. The meetings went well. Now we continue together the discernment process; please keep our leadership teams in prayer as we discern together this opportunity for our parish.

3) The STARS Cookie Walk is December 6. Please consider coming on by! We have around 40 vendors for you to visit, plus TONS of cookies and treats available for you. The money raised will support our Altar and Rosary Society and their initiatives.
 
4) The Knights of Columbus are hosting their annual Coats for Kids drive. In the last 5 years the Knights have supplied over 400 coats to needy children in Warren County. Please consider supporting the Knights of Columbus this weekend. You can find the link to give at give.mysta.org.

5) We have one more chance for you to participate in our photo directory! We will be having photos on Tuesday, December 9th. While the pictures will not be available by Christmas, they will be in the upcoming directory. Signup by going to schedule.ucdir.com, and entering church code: ia368 and password: photos or by calling the parish office. More info at pic.mysta.org. 

1) Thank you all for the prayers while I was on vacation! I traveled north in hopes of finding snow; turns out I should have headed EAST! Oh well, I spent the week enjoying board games and watching movies with a priest friend.   

2) Thanksgiving Day Mass will be at 9:00 a.m. Please bring an item from your Thanksgiving table to have blessed. A food item, mind you, not a piece of the actual table. There will be no Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Friday after Thanksgiving.
 
3) On November 20 and 21, St. Pius X and St. Thomas Aquinas will be hosting leadership from FOCUS Parish Missionaries. This visit is part of a discernment process for our parishes to see if we would be a good fit for two FOCUS Parish Missionaries. Please pray for this discernment.
 
4) For three 3 years, our leadership teams (Finance Council and Parish Council) have had numerous meetings discussing the best way to expand our staff with ministry in mind. If you'd like to see the most recent vision, please go to vision.mysta.org. With your support, we can provide new opportunities for ministry in our community.   

5) Please remember St. Thomas Aquinas in your end-of-year giving. We are hoping to build a few new ministry positions in 2026 and your year-end giving is the foundation that allows us to grow. To give to St. Thomas Aquinas, please go to give.mysta.org. You can set up your own ACH transactions or donate by credit card. Your gifts are appreciated!

1) I will be on vacation Through November 18. People asked me where I am going on vacation, and honestly I never really know until it comes. This time around I'm heading north in search of snow to bring back with me when I return. Pray for me, and know of my prayers for all of you!

2) I am excited to announce that Nicola Brummer has agreed to join our team and serve as St. Thomas Aquinas' Facility Rental Coordinator. She is completing the onboarding process now, and we hope to have her up and running in her new position Nov. 19. She will be reachable at nbrummer@stthomasindianola.com. Welcome, Nicola! Also, we have had some responses to our open positions at St. Thomas Aquinas, and will begin interviews when I return from vacation. If you are interested, please go to jobs.mysta.org.

3) On November 20 and 21, we will be hosting leadership from FOCUS Parish Missionaries at St. Thomas Aquinas to aid us as we discern whether or not St. Thomas Aquinas would be a good fit for two Parish Missionaries. Please pray for this discernment.

4) I made reference last week to a new website we are developing. My hope is that it will be ready to launch by Thanksgiving; there are still a few more things we want to do with it, however. In the meantime, you can see a few screen shots by following the link under the "links" button on the app or by going to mysta.org and clicking "links".

5) Please remember St. Thomas Aquinas in your end-of-year giving. We are hoping to build a few new ministry positions in 2026 and your year-end giving is the foundation that allows us to grow. To give to St. Thomas Aquinas, please go to give.mysta.org. You can set up your own ACH transactions or donate by credit card. Your gifts are appreciated!

1) We have several open jobs at St. Thomas Aquinas. We are in need of a part-time bookkeeper, a full-time administrative assistant, and a part-time facility maintenance person. We will begin interviews the week before Thanksgiving. If interested, or for more details, please go to jobs.mysta.org.

2) I'm super excited- I'd like to extend my personal welcome to the 4 families who asked to join our church! Thank you to our entire community for welcoming them! You all are amazing. If you, or someone you know, are interested in the Catholic faith at St. Thomas Aquinas, you can register at our parish by going to new.mysta.org.

3) On November 20 and 21, we will be hosting leadership from FOCUS Parish Missionaries at St. Thomas Aquinas to discern whether or not we would be a good fit for two Parish Missionaries. Please pray for this discernment.

4) I had a request to publish the names of our finance council and parish council members. I didn't realize they were not listed anywhere (including the website and app) but we are working on a new website and they will be there. In the meantime, you can go to our links page in the app and find a link to the finance and parish council rosters.

5) Please remember St. Thomas Aquinas in your end-of-year giving. We are hoping to build a few new ministry positions in 2026 and your year-end giving is the foundation that allows us to grow. To give to St. Thomas Aquinas, please go to give.mysta.org. You can set up your own ACH transactions or donate by credit card. Your gifts are appreciated!

1) There will be a farewell reception for Leasa Garrett on Saturday, Nov 1 after the 4:30 Mass. Leasa has accepted the Business Manager position at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Thank you to Leasa for your dedicated service the last 10 years, we will miss you! Good Luck and Godspeed on the next steps of your career.

2) Thank you everyone for participating in the Novena to St. Cecilia for a new music director- our prayers were answered! Emma Lynch (formerly DeVries) will be our Director of Music Ministry beginning June 1, 2026. Please do keep Emma in your continued prayers.

3) We have made some modifications to the Administrative Assistant position. We are now making that position FULL TIME. It will include benefits such as paid vacation, holidays, sick leave, optional insurance, and paid maternity leave (after 9 months of employment). If interested, please go to jobs.mysta.org 
 
4) I am working with our Trustees, the Parish Council, and the Finance Council to revamp some of our staffing structures. Please keep us in prayer as we discern together the best way to meet the needs of our growing community. 

5) Please mark your calendars for the upcoming sessions of ChristLife- we are going to be running all three modules SIMULTANEOUSLY beginning Wednesdays in January.