UPDATE: Father Rafal has announced that the parish will CLOSE Wednesday, September 28 through Friday, September 30. There will be no public Masses nor any streaming from the church. Since other area parishes are also closing, please use: www.Ewtn.com to view their Daily Mass streamed online. All ministry meetings and activities are CANCELLED from TONIGHT through Friday. The church will re-open (conditions permitting) Saturday, October 1, for Daily Mass at 8:00 AM. Father Rafal asks that you all be safe and avoid any travel during the severe weather conditions.

The funeral Mass scheduled for Marie Bianco on Thursday, September 29, 10:00 AM, has been POSTPONED due to Hurricane Ian. The family has made arrangements to reschedule for Thursday, October 27 at 10:00 AM, inside the church.

As of Saturday afternoon, September 24, Tropical Storm Ian is being forecast to enter Florida during this coming week as a hurricane. Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a State of Emergency for the entire state of Florida. It is prudent that you prepare for a possible hurricane by stocking up on water and batteries, in the case that electrical power is lost. On this point, it should be pointed out that we should be good stewards and not horde unnecessary large amounts of supplies. We need to care for our neighbors and purchase what we need for perhaps a week. We do this so that others may not find empty shelves when they go to the store. Keep alert for potential postings online in the case that we may need to close our parish offices or disrupt our Mass schedule. In all such cases, let us stay close to Our Lord and pray for the safety of all who come into the path of these storms.

In advance of the parish Mass Intention Book being open on Thursday, October 6, attached please find a link to the 2023 Form which you can fill out and have with you when the book opens. We will begin processing Mass Intentions on October 6, 9:00 AM inside the Social Hall. It helps if your form is completed prior to your arrival. A reminder that until January 1, 2023 we will only be accepting a maximum of 3 Mass Intentions per family, one of which may be on a weekend. This is done in order to give the most amount of parishioners an opportunity to choose the dates and times desired. Additional 2023 Mass Intention Forms may be picked up at the parish office during business hours. https://stmarkrcc.com/mass-intention-request-form-2023

St. Mark is excited to start a Faith Formation for children for the first time in the parish. You can find out more by going to this website's homepage and clicking on the "Our Ministries " tab and then clicking on "Faith Formation-Children" on the scroll down menu. Starting October 3, Grades 1-4 and Grades 5-8 meet Mondays from 4:30-5:30 PM. Enrollment fee is $25 per student. Families (any size of 2 or more) are $50. Scholarships are available for needy families. For more information, contact Deacon Joe at (917) 453-5195. To download registration forms, you can copy and paste this URL to your browser: https://d2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.net/1087/documents/2022/8/Faith-Formation-Student-Enrolloment-Form.pdf

Join us this Wednesday, September 21, when we re-start church tours after a summer break. If you are relatively new to St. Mark or have never been on one of our church tours, now is the time to sign up. It's free! To RSVP, call Jim at (352) 751-4158.

The Men's Guild is hosting two comedy shows on Friday, November 18 (2 PM & 7 PM) titled "Late Night Catechism." The shows will be held in the Parish Social Hall and tickets may be purchased by clicking on the link attached.

We are very honored to have His Excellency, Bishop John Noonan, as the Main Celebrant for this year's International Mass on Sunday, October 9, at 12:00 PM. If you are interested in volunteering, please see the attached flier or contact Francine at (352) 571-9034 or FDiscala@stmarkrcc.com.

Attached is our 2023 Special Occasions Form that you may download to schedule a Sanctuary Lamp Memorial Listing, a request for a Papal Blessing or note other Special Occasions. Please return the form to the parish office, with payment, during regular business hours.

Washington, DC is never prettier than in the spring when the Cherry Blossoms come out! Weather permitting, you will have a chance to see the Cherry Blossoms next year as Fr. Rafal leads a trip to the nation's capitol. In addition to the many historical aspects of visiting DC, there is also a rich Catholic history to examine and explore. Please see the attached flier or contact Christine McClean at (210) 860-9827 or mccleanchristina@gmail.com.

A funeral Mass for the repose of the soul of Stanley Dudziak will be celebrated Friday, September 16, 10:00 AM inside the church. Stanley was born in Buffalo, New York on March 27, 1930.

Please consider giving the gift of life to someone who needs your blood in a health emergency. OneBlood will be in the church parking lot this Sunday, September 18, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Blood shortages are critically low so please consider helping your brothers and sisters in need.

This morning St. Mark hosted a Memorial Ceremony which was organized by The Villages' FDNY 343 Memorial Club. The number 343 represents the amount of firefighters who were killed from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Even 21 years later the pain of this horrific day in American history lingers. Many who attended today's ceremony lost family, friends, colleagues and others they knew. Some who read names of the deceased from that day mentioned multiple individuals they personally knew. One gentleman read the names of seven individuals who died on 9-11, four of which were members of his family. If you would like to see photos from this morning, go to our Photo/Video tab on the homepage and look up our photo album.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, September 19, 10:00 AM, for John Urbanowicz. John was born November 1, 1936 in Jersey City, New Jersey.

You are invited to join the Parish Caribbean Cruise with Fr. Dominik February 11-18, 2023! Click the attached link for more details.

This fall's Men's Emmaus Experience will be held November 1-3 (Tue-Thurs) at Lake Yale Conference Center in Leesburg. This event is limited to 30 men and so you are encouraged to get your application in early as they will be processed on a first come, first serve basis. Attached you will find the application. For any questions, please contact Bruce at (414) 418-0368.

St. Mark parish offices will be closed on Monday, September 5, 2022 in honor of Labor Day, which is a federal holiday. There will be daily Mass at 8:00 AM but afterward, the church will be closed for the rest of the day. No activities are scheduled for Monday, September 5. The parish offices will reopen Tuesday, September 6 at 8:00 AM.

As we slowly turn towards Fall, plans are already underway for the 2022-2023 season of Adult Religious Education classes at St. Mark. Look for announcements in upcoming bulletins and course catalogues which will be placed in the church narthex.

Many have asked about the Emmaus Video shown last weekend before each Mass promoting the upcoming November 1-3, 2022 event. Here is a link to the video which Roger Grenier worked very hard to put together. https://youtu.be/dDGO-mY7Z48 During the weekend of August 27-28, Emmaus volunteers will be available before and after Masses to help men interested in applying to attend.

Attached is the 2023 Special Occasions Form that includes signing up for a Sanctuary Lamp Memorial, registering for a Papal Blessing, and applying for other Special Occasions. Please download the form and return to the Parish Office during regular business hours. This form is NOT to be used for Mass intentions.