Fr. Christian blessed and dedicated the Monument for the Unborn after the 9 AM Holy Mass on Mother's Day, May 13.  The monument memorializes the millions of unborn children that have been killed by abortion.  It will also encourage parishioners to pray for an end of legalized abortion in this country.

Fr. Christian Mathis and Deacon Dave Pecot commissioned four new Stephen Ministers during 9 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 13.

Pictured left to right are Debbie Agee, Ann Pecot, Marilyn Peterson and Claire Martin. Also pictured is Tom Ringenbach who was introduced as a new Stephen Ministry leader.

St. Thomas parishioners Elaine Karakis and Susan Mire were also recently commissioned as Stephen Ministers at St. Thomas.

Stephen Ministry candidates are required to complete 50 hours of instruction and training before they can begin providing confidential care and advice to those requesting help.

For more information on the St. Thomas Stephen Ministry, please visit the Ministries tab at the top of this webpage. The Stephen Ministry is listed under Health & Healing.

Construction has started on a veterans memorial monument to be located in front of the parish office building at St. Thomas the Apostle.

A commmitte of parish members began to explore the possibility of erecting a memorial to remember veterans who gave their lives to allow Americans to worship in freedom.

A recent survey revealed there are approximately 120 parish members who are either veterans, have family members currently serving in the military or had family members who served at one time.

Serving on the committee are: Mary Hoyle, Jim O'Brien, Don Hoyle, Phil Johnson, Albert Pfeifer, Tom Simcox and Bill Twohig.

The veterans memorial monument will be dedicated by Fr. Christian Mathis, the pastor at St. Thomas, on Memorial Day, May 28 starting with a Mass at 10 a.m.

Refreshments will be served in the St. Thomas Family Life Center following the dedication.

St. Thomas parishioners celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ with three Easter Sunday Masses on April 8. Sunday's services were the culmination of Holy Week celebrations that began seven days earlier.

From Palm Sunday and the triumphal return of Jesus to Jerusalem, the Gospel readings of the week also detailed Christ's anointment, betrayal, death and resurrection.

"They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him."

On Easter morning, His disciples didn't fully understand what had taken place.

Deacon Tom Bomkamp read from the Gospel of John, which tells the story of the discovery of an empty tomb, and Father Christian Mathis gave his account of why the celebration of the resurrection doesn't end on Easter Sunday.

Following his Easter homily, those celebrating Mass renewed their baptismal vows and were anointed with holy water by Fr. Christian.

The entire Gospel reading and homily can be heard in our podcast section.

Cardinal Justin Rigali, the former Archbishop of St. Louis and Philadelphia, celebrated Palm Sunday Masses at St. Thomas the Apostle on March 31 and April 1.

In a closing statement and blessing at the 9 a.m. Mass on Sunday, Cardinal Rigali called on parishioners to remember that the next seven days is a "most important week for us and for Jesus."

The appearance of Cardinal Rigali was a bit of a last minute surprise arranged by Deacon Sean Smith, who serves as Chancellor for the Diocese of Knoxville.

"We invited him to come and he graciously accepted," said Fr. Christian Mathis, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle. "It was great having him with us. He brought his gentle spirt and prayerfulness to us in the way he celebrated the Mass."

The celebration of Palm Sunday Mass started in the church courtyard where Deacon Sean read from the Gospel and Cardinal Rigali offered the traditional blessing of the palms. Following a procession to the church sanctuary, Mass continued with more readings, including the Passion of our Lord Jesus from the Gospel of Mark.

"What is so important about this suffering, is that Jesus underwent it all with immense love for His Father and for us," said Cardinal Rigali in his homily.

In 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed Cardinal Rigali Archbishop of St. Louis. He was appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia in 2003. Two weeks later, on October 21, 2003, he was created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II during a ceremony at St. Peter's Square.

The complete homily delivered by Cardinal Rigali can be heard in our podcast section.