In this time of pandemic, our Christian families living in the Holy Land are struggling to survive. With no tourism in the Holy Land and no olive wood carvings sales in our parishes here at home, family olive wood carving workshops are shut down and are not generating any income. Families are facing limited food, water and electricity and they need our continued help and support. One way we can help is to purchase olive wood carvings through the Bethlehem Christian Families olive wood carvings online store. If you are interested in purchasing an olive wood carving, please visit the online store by clicking on the picture accompanying this article. Thank you and God bless!

After careful consideration that included a thorough review of subscriptions, finances, and available resources, it has been decided that the archdiocese will discontinue "The Witness" at 4:30 PM on 30 September 2020. The issue dated 4 October 2020 will be the last. (Click on the Graphic to read the full article)

Are you downsizing and have things to get rid of? Are you clearing household goods from an estate? Blessed Sacrament parishioners are offering Estate of Grace Sale Services for those willing to donate the proceeds back to Blessed Sacrament parish. At your location, we will set up for a sale, advertise the sale, staff the sale, and dispose of what remains after the sale. If you are interested in discussing or scheduling a sale with us, please call Margaret Klein at 319-429-1907.

Boy Scout Troop 29 invites you to dispose of your unwanted cans and bottles in the receptacle by the Anne Sulentic Parish Center. We appreciate your contributions as we use the funds collected for our badge earnings and other expenses. Thank you from Troop 29!

If you're concerned about the faith formation of a young adult in college, the most important thing you can do is to help get them connected to a campus ministry program or the local Catholic parish near their school. Contact cards which you can send to a campus ministry or parish office are available in the Gathering Space. Addresses for Catholic campus ministry programs and local parishes near Iowa college and universities are available online by clicking on the picture accompanying this article.

Are you tired of eating at home? Need some new recipes to wake up your taste buds? There's a solution and it's available in the parish office --the Blessed Sacrament Cookbook! There are 354 mouth-watering recipes, that's almost one new recipe a day for a year! The cost is just $10 (cash or checks made payable to Blessed Sacrament). Get your copy today and how about purchasing a few extra for Christmas gifts? For questions, call the Parish Office at 319.233.6179. Thank you to everyone who has already purchased copies!

Monday, August 10, 2020 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., St. Francis Room, St. Edward Parish. This preparation program is for first-time parents in the Waterloo parishes who are planning to baptize an infant or young child in the near future. Parents should be registered members of a parish and may register at the class. Masks and social distancing required. To register online, click on the picture or contact the parish office at 319.233.6179.

Think about the people, charities and organizations that are meaningful to you. Make sure your will is written so your intentions are clearly spelled out. Make sure your loved ones also know about these intentions. We pray that you consider Blessed Sacrament in your estate planning. If you would like more information about leaving a legacy gift to Blessed Sacrament, please contact Fr. Kruse at 319-233-6179.

We welcome Fr. Bernardo Moya Montero, OFM of the General Secretariat of Franciscan Missions the weekend of July 25/26. Fr. Bernardo is here for the annual mission appeal weekend and will preside and preach at all weekend Masses to raise awareness for the missions they serve. If you wish to give to the mission, please make checks payable to Blessed Sacrament Parish and write "mission appeal" on the memo line. Mission appeal contributions can be dropped in the donation drop box in the Church, dropped off at the office, or mailed. To read more, please click on the image.

Blessed Sacrament will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for Blessed Sacrament teenagers who had their Confirmation Mass postponed due to COVID-19. While the public at large is not able to attend this celebration, the Confirmation Mass will be live streamed on our website and Facebook page for the general public to worship and support our youth.

The Blessed Sacrament Garage Sale Team will hold Flash Sale #2 on Thursday and Friday, July 23rd and 24th from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and on Saturday, July 26th from 9:00 AM to Noon in the Parish Center. Having a Flash Sale of items currently on-hand will allow us to spread our sale items out and allow more room for social distancing. Set up will be held on Wednesday, July 22nd from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and break down will take place on Saturday, July 25th beginning at 8:00 am. We are very much in need of help for this sale. Please call either Mary Nichols at 319.830.2122 or Margaret Klein at 319.429.1907.

First Communion celebrations at Blessed Sacrament have been rescheduled to Sunday, July 11th at 11:00 a.m. and Wednesday, July 15th at 6:30 p.m. To comply with social distancing restrictions, these Masses will be for First Communicants and their immediate families only. The Masses will be live-streamed so that extended family and other parishioners may participate as well. Please keep these young people in your prayers as they prepare to receive Jesus in Holy Communion for the first time.

We are pleased to announce that Martha Korneisel and Jim Roche have been elected to serve on the Blessed Sacrament Pastoral Council. In addition, Greg Stammeyer has been elected to serve on the CVCS School Board. We are ever thankful to those who have served on our Pastoral Council and now take their leave: Kathy Grete and Harland Robinson. Thank you also to Jenny Hemesath for her service on the the CVCS School Board.

Blessed Sacrament parishioner Jim Roche was recently interviewed by St. Patrick Church in Hampton, IA about his visit to the shrine of the Blessed Virgin in Medjurgorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the impact it had on his faith and life. To listen to this interview, please click on the picture.

Corpus Christi is our Parish Feast Day, and even though we cannot celebrate together like we did last year, we still want to do a little something special this Sunday. Whether or not you feel comfortable in attending Mass in person, please drive by for a Eucharistic Blessing from Fr. Tony. We hope to see you there! Click on the picture to see more.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! We are looking for teams of six (6) people to sanitize and disinfect the church immediately following each weekend Mass. Volunteers must be persons whose health is not compromised and who is not at high-risk for COVID-19. Instructions will be provided, along with all cleaning materials. If you do not see six slots listed, that simply means we already have a volunteer or two who have signed on to help after that particular Mass. With six people, disinfecting should not take more than 20-30 minutes. Any questions? Contact Maggie England at 233-6179, or dbq208s2@dbqarch.org. Please review the available slots in the sign-up link (Click on the Picture) and sign up when and where you can. Thank you for your love of our parish community and God Bless!

The Pentecost edition of "Community Connections" is now available online. Please click on the image to access the newsletter.

It is with great regret that our Blessed Sacrament Salad Supper will be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus. The 2020 parish cookbooks are moving ahead as planned for a delivery date in early August. For cookbook pre-orders, call Ann Baumgartner at 319-984-6547 (email: bauminia@msn.com) or Beth Sadd at 319-240-4380 (email:Beth.Sadd@gmail.com).

Effective immediately, Fr. Kevin Earlywine will no longer live stream the noon Spanish Mass at Blessed Sacrament parish. Fr. Kevin will still offer a noon Spanish Live Stream Mass through his Hispanic Ministry Facebook page, which can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/HispanosFranklinHardin/. Also, a Spanish-language Mass with the Archbishop is live streamed every Sunday at 10am at: https://dbqarch.org/live-broadcasts. Padre Kevin no puede ofrecer la Misa de Español a las 12:00 por "Blessed Sacrament parish Livestream." En lugar de esta, Padre Kevin todavía va a ofrecer la Misa de Español a las 12:00 por su Facebook page de su parroquia, aqui: https://www.facebook.com/HispanosFranklinHardin/ O también hay la opción de la Misa con el arzobispo por su Livestream a las 10:00 por la manana. Puede mirar aqui https://dbqarch.org/live-broadcasts.

Message from Trinity Tour Travels & Fr. Tony, We know the current situation is unsettling and hope that you and your families are safe and well. We have been carefully monitoring the health and safety updates related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). As the number of Coronavirus cases is dramatically increasing all around the world and after careful consideration; we are very saddened to inform you that Father Tony and Trinity Tour Travels have decided to postpone your Holy Land tour to the year of 2021. We know many of you were so eager to visit the Holy Land but the safety of our travelers is our priority. Unfortunately, we don’t have an exact date yet. The future is truly unpredictable at this moment. Once everything gets back to normal, we will take every precaution before deciding on a new date. In the meantime, let us all focus on encompassing his love and passing that love on to others. Please stay safe and healthy.