In Memoriam
Sister Joan Mary Finn, OP
1937- 2021
Sister Joan Mary Finn, OP was welcomed home by God on March 12, 2021. She was 84 years of age and had devoted 65 years to religious life. She earned a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University and a master’s degree from Canisius College. Sister Joan ministered first in elementary education and then taught at the Caritas School for the Deaf. She went on to minister in pastoral work with the Deaf at Catholic Charities and the Diocese of Rockville Centre. We ask that you remember her and all her loved ones as they mourn her loss.
Her community, the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, New York asks us to remember her and all her loved ones as they mourn her loss. The Mass will be private because of COVID restrictions. Since the restrictions are beginning to lighten, however, her community will welcome Father Tom Costa who will con-celebrate and sign the Mass because of Joan’s long and extensive ministry with the Deaf community of Long Island. Many of them will be viewing the live-streamed liturgy.
Her community will receive Sister Joan Mary Finn’s body with the singing of the Salve in St. Albert’s Chapel at 10:30am. A private Mass will then occur at 10:45am in the Motherhouse on Friday, March 19, 2021. Internment will follow in the Sisters’ Cemetery. The Mass will be live-streamed with the hope that as many of you as possible will be able to join us in prayer at that time.
Here is the link you can click on to view her funeral service: Sister Joan Mary Finn’s Funeral Service
Please join us in prayer wherever you are.
May our Sister Joan, and all departed loved ones, rest in peace.
Coronavirus And The Church
From the Board of Directors at the National Catholic Office for the Deaf, we want to let you all know that we are praying for all of you, our brothers and sisters, around the world facing the coronavirus impact. As we have seen so many places having imposed restrictions and several lockdowns aiming to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Masses in many dioceses being suspended until further notice is one of those restrictions. In light of that, we have noticed a rise in the use of technology to broadcast the Sunday liturgy, in which several of our Deaf and hearing priests now offer live-streaming of the ASL Masses for our Deaf brothers and sisters who can watch from home. Here is the list of ASL Masses being live-streamed on Sundays until further notice:
Saturdays:
1. Guardian Angels Catholic Community, Oakdale, MN – Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minneasota. Livestreamed Mass with ASL interpretation every Saturday at 4:30pm CST. Link to our FaceBook Page: facebook.com/GuardianAngelsOakdale
Sundays:
1. Schott Communities For Persons Who Are Deaf or Disabled, Cooper City, FL. – Archdiocese of Miami. Our interpreted Mass is stream live every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. from this Facebook page. The Mass, once broadcasted, can be accessed at any time. Masses from previous weeks can be found by scrolling down our timeline or by going to the video section of the page. Link to our FaceBook Page: Schott Communities FaceBook Page
2. Fr. Thomas Rozman – Pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Mechanicsburg, Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Live-Streaming Mass in ASL 9:45am EST. The Mass can be accessed at this link: stjosephmech.org.
3. Fr. Shawn Carey – Director of the Boston Deaf Apostolate, Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts – Sunday ASL Mass 11:00am EST on YouTube Live: youtube.com/user/DeafApostolateBoston After live-streaming, the video will be available at bostondeafcatholic.org which can be viewed at your convenience.
4. Monsignor Glenn Nelson J.C.L. – Director of Rockford Deaf Apostolate and Vicar General, Diocese of Rockford, Illinois – Sunday ASL Mass 10:00am CST on FaceBook Live: facebook.com/RockfordDeafApostolate
5. Fr. Mike Depcik – Director of Detroit Catholic Deaf Community, St John’s Deaf Center, Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan – Sunday ASL Mass 11:30am EST on FaceBook Live: facebook.com/deafmass
6. Fr. Tom Schweitzer and Deacon Tomas Garcia – Holy Angels Catholic Church of the Deaf, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California 8:30am PST (ASL and spoken English) & 11:30am EST (ASL and Spanish/Español) youtube.com/user/hacofthedeaf/live
7. Interpreted Virtual Mass – Fr. Dave Korth with an ASL interpreter – Sacred Heart Church, Diocese of Omaha, Nebraska, Mass can be viewed at either the church’s website: sacredheartchurchomaha.org or their YouTube Channel:YouTube.com/SacredHeartChurchOmaha
8. Interpreted Live-Streaming Sunday Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael Olson, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas 11:00am CST. To view the Mass, you can log on to: fwdioc.org. It is then uploaded to that website for later viewing (normally by early evening).
9. Fr. Tom Coyte – Director of Colorado Catholic Deaf Ministry – Sunday ASL and Spoken English Mass 10:00am MST: stbernadettelakewood.org. It can also be viewed at either the church’s Facebook Page: St Bernadette Parish Lakewood CO FaceBook Page or the church’s YouTube channel: St. Bernadette Parish Lakewood CO YouTube Channel
10. Interpreted Virtual Mass – Very Reverend Patrick Schafer OFM, Pastor with an ASL Interpreter – Holy Family Church, Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 8:00am MST English 10:00am MST Spanish. Mass can be viewed at either the church’s FaceBook page: Holy Family Church Albuquerque FaceBook Page or their YouTube Channel: Holy Family Church Albuquerque YouTube Channel
If you know of your diocesan Deaf Ministry or others doing any videotaping or live-streaming of the Masses, please email the info to Fr. Shawn Carey at NCODPresident@gmail.com. We will be happy to add the info on this list.
Pope Francis’ Prayer to Mary for Her Powerful Intercession to be freed by the evil of the virus:
O Mary, you always shine on our path as a sign of salvation and of hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm. You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need, and we are sure you will provide so that, as in Cana of Galilee, we may return to joy and to feasting after this time of trial. Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform to the will of the Father and to do as we are told by Jesus, who has taken upon himself our sufferings and carried our sorrows to lead us, through the cross, to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.
My First Eucharist is a comprehensive home preparation process for families. This six lesson program provides the necessary formation prior to the reception of the Sacrament of First Eucharist. The program provides lesson plans, activities, video library that contains lesson videos and glossary of terms in ASL.