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CATHOLIC MEN: The Tennessee Knights of Columbus welcome you to join the largest Catholic fraternal benefits organization in the world for free through June 30, 2021. We are Catholic men building a bridge back to faith, dedicated to lives of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism. Practicing Catholic gentleman, age 18 or older, join today using the discount code MCGIVNEY2020 at www.kofc.org/join!

Easter Flowers for our Altar: If you would like to help provide flowers to add our Basilica’s apostolate of beauty on Easter, please return this form with your donation to the parish office, use the Easter Flower Offering envelope (if you receive offertory envelopes), or make an online donation for flowers on WeShare and email the information to office@stspeterandpaulbasilica.com by March 31st to be printed in our Easter Sunday bulletin.

DYM, the Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul's Downtown Youth Ministry, will be offering Wednesday in-person meetings 6-8pm and Sunday virtual meetings 6:30-8pm beginning in Lent! All 6th to 12th grade students are welcome! Click for schedule details.

During Lent, we will offer Friday Adoration and Stations of the Cross, a virtual Lenten Parish Mission March 1 & 2, a penance service on March 15, and a food drive/collection in conjunction with the Solemnity of St. Joseph. The CSO will be offering concerts Palm Sunday weekend. We have made special accommodations to support the need for social distancing during Holy Week, and we plan to live-stream all the Holy Week liturgies. Click to see the calendar for details.

The traditional Ember Days of fasting for Lent 2021 are Wed., Fri., and Sat., Feb. 24, 26, and 27. While a fast is not obligatory on these days, it can be a worthy and traditional spiritual practice to fast or abstain in some way on these days. See https://www.fisheaters.com/emberdays.html

We have an outstanding group of parishioners who have agreed to make up our campaign leadership team. (Click to see the list.) Please give prayerful consideration to serving as a volunteer if you are asked.

Select the title to view a list of our regular scheduled ministry activities, and then click the name of the particular ministry for more information. Please note that parish activities on campus are limited during the coronavirus outbreak. However, many of our groups have resumed on-campus and others are continuing to meet virtually, outdoors, off-campus, etc.  

The first phase of our parish “Under One Roof” capital campaign is off to a great start.  We have composed a campaign prayer. We invite you to pray it to help invoke God’s blessings in this important project. You can find it in our bulletin, website, and also taped into our pews so that we can pray it together at Mass. 

Dear Parishioners, A campaign planning study was recently conducted at Sts. Peter and Paul to assess the needs of the Basilica and prepare for a major fundraising initiative. Thank you to everyone who participated. Your feedback and insights were extremely valuable in determining our next course of action. I am happy to share this summary report which highlights the key study findings and recommendations for proceeding. (Click to view Fr. Carter's full report from the Planning Study...)

We are recruiting adult parishioners to join the Sacristan Ministry to set up the sanctuary for Mass. Our Sacristans serve on rotation (about once a month). No previous experience is needed, and step-by-step training will be provided. Please contact Amy Long through the parish office or myParish app.

We have over 50 RCIA candidates in our parish this year, and they have been meeting weekly since September to learn the Catholic faith. Sunday, Jan. 10th, at the 9:00 English Mass and the 1:30 Spanish Mass, they will participate in the Rite of Welcome. We need sponsors to accompany the candidates on this important faith journey, especially this year, as we’ve had less opportunity for the candidates to meet parishioners in person. Please pray for our candidates, and contact our RCIA Director, Dan Pacitti, through the parish office (rcia@stspeterandpaulbasilica.com) if you would like to help.

Walking with Moms in Need is a USCCB-sponsored pro-life program launching in 2021 at the Basilica to provide one-on-one assistance to moms as well as dads in our community:  in assessing skills, setting goals, and preparing for an education or job placement. We need volunteers in the following areas:  Topic Developers, Speakers, Dinner Prep and Servers, Childcare, and Leader. Click for details.

Thanks to all who have donated for Christmas flowers and poinsettias to adorn the altar this Christmas! Click to see a list of the honorary donations.

In Fr. Carter’s pastor’s notes for 11/29/20 and 12/6/20, you’ll find instructions about the proper use of a personal hand corporal, as a reverent way to receive the Sacred Host without touching it with your hand. We have a limited number of these hand corporals available in the vestibule for a suggested donation of $1. Or you may also bring a similar cloth of your own.

On the Feast of Christ the King (November 22 for the Ordinary Form), we will recite the traditional Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at our Sunday Masses. It can be found in the leaflet at the entrance, and is also posted here. There is the opportunity for a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, for those who recite the prayer publicly on the feast of Christ the King.

Our Annual Stewardship Appeal is in progress and we are aiming for 100% participation from all parishioners. (Click to review and submit the appeal on our Stewardship page at any time.) NOTE: We have increased expenses because of the additional third priest to minister to the growing Hispanic community. We are especially worried about the facilities of the parish, including our roof and HVAC, both of which are substantial capital investments. As of yet, only 109 of the 498 households in our parish have made a pledge for the coming year. That's just 22%. Please help us reach 100% participation!  Thank you for your generous support to our parish.

Beginning January 26th, Fr. Carter will offer altar server training for the Extraordinary Form, Tuesdays at 5:30pm, as well as serving at 7am weekday Masses. To prepare for the training, it is necessary to learn the Latin prayers and read the altar server manual. For more information, visit our Altar Servers page and contact admin@stspeterandpaulbasilica.com to sign up.

Our 130th Anniversary Parish Photo Directories have finally arrived! If you had your picture made for the directory, you may pick up the copy in the vestibule with your name on it or call the parish office to arrange to pick yours up. If you were not pictured but would like a copy, we have a limited quantity available for $8 in the parish office. Many thanks to Cathy Oliver for managing this project, Michael Stradley for his creative design work, and all the parishioners who helped to make this beautiful book a reality!

On Wednesday, Nov. 4th, at 6pm, Fr. Carter delivered his annual State of the Parish Address.

National Vocation Awareness Week will be celebrated in our country November 1-7, 2020. Please ask Our Lord for more dedicated, holy priests, deacons and consecrated men and women. May they be inspired by Jesus Christ, supported by our faith community, and respond generously to God’s gift of a vocation.