Hello to all,

It has been one week since the funeral mass of Fr. Tom Burke. It was an outstanding tribute to a dedicated pastor and human being. Thank you all for your support, prayers, and encouragement during this difficult time in the parish.

In the absence of a pastor, the bishop has asked me to assume the duties of parish administrator until a full-time Redemptorist pastor is appointed. That will not happen until the pandemic has lessened. Bishop Noonan said I was “pinch-hitting,” but mixed up his baseball analogy by asking that you not send me any “fly balls.” I think he meant “curve balls,” but he can be forgiven as they do not play baseball in Ireland.

Fortunately, there is a wonderful team to work with here at Sacred Heart/St. Gerard. Our new deacon, Stephen Gross, and his wife, Roxanne, have been a wonderful addition to our parish leadership community. Deacon Lou Bartos continues to inspire with his homilies and dedication to the people of the parish and school. Office Manager, Ella Copeland, keeps everything running smoothly and, of course, Fr. Aldrin Nunes and Fr. Jim McCabe, continue to offer their full support.

According to the guidelines of the diocese, we will continue to limit our gatherings in the church and social hall. St. Gerard Mission will continue to be closed for mass. First Holy Communion will be postponed until the restrictions have been lifted. (If any parents would like their child to receive this year, they could contact Ella Copeland. They can choose any parish mass during the week or on the weekend.) Weekend masses at Sacred Heart are still limited to 25% capacity (about 150 people).

As you might know, I have enjoyed offering parish missions to parishes in Florida and throughout the U.S. and Canada. My last one was in Melbourne in early March. All have been canceled since then except for four this year (Our Lady of Charity in Buffalo, NY; St. Gregory in Northeast, PA; Holy Spirit in Mims; Sacred Heart and Christ the King in Manville, NJ). I will be traveling to Buffalo soon. The parish will be in the capable hands of the parish team – which includes you. Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents, your time and treasure with the parish and school. We have had a set-back with the loss of Fr. Tom, but we can continue the work that he started. Together, we can fulfill God’s plan.

Sincerely,

Fr. Kevin MacDonald, C.Ss.R.

REV. THOMAS A. BURKE, C.Ss.R. January 2, 1956 – August 8, 2020

https://www.facebook.com/joe.bellissimo.98/videos/10219372273277598/

Click on link to view

Mass of Christian Burial for Rev. Thomas A. Burke, C.Ss.R. 64, New Smyrna Beach, who died Saturday, August 8, 2020, will be at 1 PM Monday, August 17, 2020 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, New Smyrna Beach. Burial will follow in Edgewater-New Smyrna Cemetery, Edgewater. Visiting hours will begin on Sunday, August 16, at 12:30 PM at Sacred Heart Church, New Smyrna Beach, with a Prayer Vigil for the Deceased at 7:00 PM Sunday.

Fr. Burke was born in New York City, NY to Irish immigrants, William and Mary Murphy Burke. He entered St. Mary’s Seminary, North East, PA in 1967 and took his vows of Profession as a Redemptorist on July 31, 1976 at St. Alphonsus College, Suffield, CT. He was ordained a Redemptorist Priest on May 23, 1981 at Mt. St. Alphonsus, Esopus, NY. For his first eleven years, Fr. Burke served the Province of Baltimore at numerous parishes as Associate Pastor. He then served in the Vice-Province of Richmond as Associate Pastor at several Georgia parishes. He was also Pastor of the Catholic Community of Sumter, SC before coming to Sacred Heart in 2015, where he was the Pastor until his death. He was a Consulter for the Vice-Province of Richmond and elected as the Vicar of the Vice-Province of Richmond. Fr. Burke is survived by his mother, Mary; two brothers, William and John Burke and three sisters, Rosemarie O’Connor, Kelly Schwartz and Kathleen Burke and his Redemptorist Brothers. Dudley Funeral Home, New Smyrna Beach, is in charge of arrangements.

As we prepare to say our final goodbyes to our beloved pastor, Fr. Tom, I would
like to inform you of the schedule and procedures.
At 12:30pm Fr. Tom’s body will be brought into the church and viewing will be
held from 12:30pm until 7pm. This is an opportunity for everyone to come and
spend some private time to say your individual goodbye.
Sunday 7pm. There will be a wake service lead by his Redemptorist brothers. It
will be open to everyone, but we must remember to be mindful of our
guidelines of mask wearing, social distancing, and our maximum capacity
allowance.
Monday, August 17th at 1PM is Fr. Toms’ funeral Mass presided by Bishop
Noonan. Again, our guidelines of mask wearing, social distancing and maximum
capacity allowance, will be in effect. The doors will open at 12PM. Any overflow
will be invited to the social hall where the funeral Mass will be live streamed.
We hope that with these many opportunities to come and pay your respects to
Fr. Tom, we will be able to accommodate everyone. We ask for your
understanding and wisdom in choosing the best celebration for you to attend.
For anyone wishing to do so, you can view Fr. Toms’ Funeral Mass on the church
website.
Burial will be private.
Thank you for your attention

Sacred Heart Catholic School is proud to announce our school reopening August 26th for the 2020-21 school year! As we prepare, plan and pray for a positive return to campus with all health and safety protocols in place, students will continue to thrive in our small, secure, supportive, spiritual, and successful academic environment. Limited space available – Proudly serving grade PreK-8 – Call for a tour today!

Guidelines for reopening – 

SACRED HEART MASS TIMES  – SAT VIGIL 4:00PM & SUNDAY 8:00AM, 10:30AM

ST. GERARD -SUNDAY MASS ONLY AT 10AM

Per Bishop Noonan​ Sunday Holy Mass obligation has been suspended until further notice.

If you think you might be sick or uneasy about attending Mass at the Church, please stay home and attend our online streamed Masses on the Parish Website, Facebook.

We will be able to allow a limited number of people into the worship space sanctuary to enable appropriate social distancing.

You may be denied permission to enter or asked to leave if our 25% capacity 125 reached.

Only the main entrance and the doors nearest the handicap parking on the school side of the church will be open prior to Mass.

All Holy Water fonts will be empty in keeping with protocols.

Hand Sanitizers will be available at entrances, as well as disposable gloves, if you do not have your own.

We will not be providing masks, though we highly recommend you bring and wear your own.

Will we have a receptacle to dispose of used gloves/masks at the end of Mass.

Seating will follow social distancing guidelines.

You may be directed to appropriate seating, and we thank you for your cooperation.

Masses will be celebrated by one of our Redemptorist priests assisted by our deacons.

We will not, at this time, be utilizing altar servers, lectors, or Eucharistic Ministers.

We will no longer hold hands during the Our Father prayer.

We will offer a bow to one another as the exchange of the Sign of Peace, instead of the customary handshake.

There will be no offertory baskets distributed for collection.

One large basket will be located in the main aisle so you may deposit your offertory upon arriving.

The offertory and gift procession to the altar has been suspended.

Music accompaniment will be our music director and a cantor.

In keeping with Diocesan mandates, distribution of Communion will be in the species of Body only, and reception will be in hand only.

The proper way to receive is with hands extended one under the other, in essence, a throne is formed to receive the Sacred Host.

If gloves are worn, they are to be removed for Communion.

Do not move until the Host has been placed in your hand, permitting the priest or deacon to place the Host without touching your hands.

The faithful are encouraged to wear masks, but are asked to lower the masks to receive Communion.

The Presider is not to wear a mask during the celebration of the Mass, but can wear it to distribute Communion.

Maintain appropriate social distancing. Appropriate spacing for the reception of communion is marked in red on center aisle.

When the celebration of Mass has ended it is important not to congregate into groups, but to clear the Church expediently, for cleaning and disinfecting must begin.

Always maintain proper distance and please, do not make our clergy the enforcers.

Coffee & donuts after Mass has been suspended.

All social gatherings and on campus ministries and classes have been suspended.

As we are a faith family, it is important each of us takes the responsibility of protecting everyone.  Therefore, we respectfully request, in the event you witness activity or a brother or sister not in compliance with these rules, politely bring it to their attention and offer the correct practice.

In the unfortunate event, after the counsel, it is not corrected, without a second attempt, bring the matter to either a member of the clergy or designated coordinator.

Please view message from Fr. Tom Burke

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The last three months have turned our lives upside down in so many unimagined ways mainly because of COVID-1: globally, economically, socially (We now speak of social distancing) and religiously as well (Our places of worship were closed, opening only now with stringent safeguards put in place). All of our lives have changed. What will be the new normal?
During this time we have been broadcasting the Mass using the modern tools of communication: the smart phone, the internet and the video camera. We will continue to do for the coming months as well as having the Mass in Church.
During the past few weeks I haven’t been seen saying the Mass with you. Why? A few weeks ago I was working over in the Knights of Columbus hall doing some heavy construction. I felt some pain in my back that I thought was from using different muscles and from age. As always I took Aleve and Tylenol, heating pad, etc. Nothing worked.
Having gone to the doctor it was discovered that I had a compression fracture on my spine. Sadly something else was discovered. I had tumors on my back that ate into five of my vertebrae. An orthopedic surgical procedure called a Kyphoplasty was performed. A biopsy was also performed at the same time. The tumors were cancerous originating from my lungs.
I have lung cancer. 34 years of smoking. I had stopped for the last 5 years. Not surprised yet still surprised. What is next? I am presently over at the Redemptorist Villa (Now an assisted living facility for all my Redemptorist Brothers) receiving 5 radiation treatments while waiting a complete diagnosis. An MRI will be done of my head this coming Wednesday that will be put together with blood panels, CTs etc.so that a proper treatment can treat the cancer.
I honestly asked the oncologist: Do I have 3 months or 5 years? He couldn’t answer me because he still as yet didn’t have all the information and more so because he said tremendous advances have been made during the past 5 years. There is no one way to treat it. There are many other avenues to treating it: immunology’s etc.
When I learn more I will share the information with you. There are 2 things I ask of you. First, don’t draw conclusions until all the information is there, secondly, pray for me! Nothing is impossible for God! Nothing.
My provincial as well as our Bishop have been informed and will continue to be informed as time goes by.

God’s blessing—always,  Fr. Tom Burke C.Ss.R.

Please click on the link below to hear Bishop Noonan’s message for First Communicants.

https://youtu.be/TKczYRy625s

A special tribute to the Sacred Heart Class of 2020 and the 8th grade superstars who have made us so proud! We celebrate you, we miss you and we love you more than you will ever know. In honor of you, this movie was created by our beloved Mrs. B as a virtual thank you from the Faculty and Staff of Sacred Heart Catholic School. It is always a great day to be an EAGLE!

https://www.facebook.com/182011098486696/videos/650960292362244/

Click here to view and join us for a livestream celebration of Holy Mass Pentecost Sunday, May 31st at 4:00 pm. We can be in spiritual union with Our Lord. The Mass will be live-streamed on the parish web site, Youtube and Facebook.
Our Celebrant message is sure to be both comforting and inspirational during this trying time. Peace and blessings to all our sisters and brothers.

Join us in the celebration of Holy Mass Easter Sunday, April 12th at 9:00 AM here at Sacred Heart. The presider will be Fr. Kevin McDonald. Although our physical presence is not possible, we can be in spiritual union with Our Lord. The Mass will be live-streamed on the parish web site, Youtube and Facebook. Fr. Kevin’s message is sure to be both comforting and inspirational during this trying time. Peace and blessings to all our sisters and brothers.