Pasture: Jesus tells us today that he is the Good Shepherd, a shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus leads his flock away from dangers and into safe pastures. Ultimately the Good Shepherd is leading us to the eternal pasture of heaven.
DSA: This weekend is the beginning of our Diocesan Services Appeal (DSA) 2018. Some comments that I’ve heard are why we are having DSA when we have just finished Witness to Hope. In summary, Witness to Hope was an investment for the future, setting up endowments, most of which will not be funded until the five-year collection takes place, and most of those endowments are for additional future programming that the diocese is not currently covering. DSA, on the other hand, is to cover the day-to-day diocesan operations. These include vocations, evangelization, Catholic Charities, etc. In their most recent issue, Faith magazine detailed wonderfully how the DSA helps people throughout our diocese. Please prayerfully consider giving to DSA! Thank you.
Get your tickets: We have a couple special events coming up. First of all, the St. Francis Prayer Center Dinner Auction will be held in the Fr. Bush Center on Saturday, May 5. The St. Francis Prayer Center is on the north end of Flint and helps those in need on a constant basis. Additionally, the director of the Prayer Center is one of our parishioners, Deb Hawley. She helps our parish and the Genesee County Region with the important ministry of healing. And then there is our school auction on May 19. This promises to be a fun event as it is a ‘mystery’ dinner with auction. Please support our school by attending. I plan on going to both auctions and hope that you will pray about attending and supporting them as well.
Made for Happiness: Please mark your calendars. On Saturday, September 22, all are invited to the Breslin Center in Lansing for a diocesan assembly. The day starts with an outdoor procession of the Holy Eucharist from 9 am – 11:30 am. There will be talks on evangelization from 1 – 3:30 pm followed by Mass at 4:30 pm. The bishop asked all parishes in the diocese to cancel their Saturday evening Mass on September 22 so people can attend the Mass at the Breslin Center.
WELCOME: By all accounts the Men’s Welcome retreat was a rousing success last weekend. Next weekend is the women’s Welcome (formerly CRHP) retreat. Nearly 30 women will be attending. These are blessed weekends and I feel fortunate to play a small part in them. I am so thankful for the leadership teams that make the retreats flow. Really hoping that all of our parishioners will experience either the ALPHA course or the WELCOME weekend—or better yet, both☺.
Renovation: As I write my bulletin column this week, I am heading to Lansing the next two days to meet with our diocese regarding our Church renovation. I will have more information in next weekend’s column and send out an email with an update.
Sale: Our beloved 55 and Over Club will hold its annual garage sale next weekend April 27 – 28. They always seem to collect some pretty interesting items! Please stop by and visit the Fr. Bush Parish Center to take a look and support their mission.
Hoping that spring weather is finally here. Fr. Dan has done a terrible job praying for good weather.
With love and prayers,
Msgr. Jerry
Saint quote:
The feast of St. Mark the Evangelist is April 25. He was probably the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt and the founder of the Church of Alexandria. There is an interesting story about the relics of St. Mark, which are enshrined in the beautiful cathedral (St. Mark’s) in Venice. According to legend, priests feared Saint Mark’s relics might be damaged or destroyed by the Muslims during the persecution of the Catholic community in Alexandria. Merchants convinced the priests to allow them to return to Venice with the relics of Saint Mark. The relics were then placed in a chest covered by a layer of pork and cabbage. When the Muslim officials asked to inspect the chest, they cried out ‘Oh horror’ at the sight and smell of the pork (according to their custom they are not allowed to touch/eat pork). Thus the evangelist was safely conveyed to Venice, but not before a number of miracles eased his passage across the Mediterranean.
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16