Catholic Schools Week: All week long our Holy Family Catholic School is celebrating Catholic Schools Week. Both Fr. Gary and I are very happy to be at a parish with a school—and a very good one at that. Both of us enjoy visiting the school; there is lots of joy there! This Sunday, Jan. 31, there is an open house in our school from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Please stop by if you are able. I hope to see you there.
Off to Rome: This Thursday, Feb. 4, I am leaving for Rome. Recently I was invited to attend a few meetings on the Year of Mercy. I will return on Friday, Feb. 12. It was certainly not my intent to be gone on Ash Wednesday on February 10. I will miss being here.
Retreat: After I get back from Rome I leave on Sunday, Feb. 14, for my week-long retreat—which for priests is mandatory. This has been scheduled for some time. Fr. Gary recently went on his retreat (please see his column on this page). I am going to Our Lady of Divine Providence Retreat House in Tampa. The retreat I am making is silent, except for meeting with a spiritual director each day for about 30 minutes. The retreat model is based on the Ignatian method where one prays with Scripture four hours each day.
Another Seminarian: Recently I was asked by our vocation director, Fr. John Linden, whether the parish would be interested in taking another seminarian next year. I said, “yes.” One of the reasons why I said yes was because of how much this parish embraces and takes interest in the seminarians. Deacon Peter Lawrence will be here through May before being ordained a priest on June 10. Soon afterward he will begin his first assignment as a priest. We also have John Vinton here either through May or August until he returns to the seminary. The new seminarian we will have with us is Alberto Nickerson. His home parish is Cristo Rey in Lansing. He speaks fluent Spanish. He will be ordained a deacon on June 10. He will arrive at our parish in late June and stay until mid-August to return to his final year of theological studies in Detroit. He will spend his weekends with us from September – May.
Crucifix: I mentioned in a bulletin column a month or so ago that Fr. Swiat gave me the crucifix that was placed in the “white hall” when Holy Family Parish began. After receiving a handful of advice on where to put the crucifix, we decided to put it in the “Holy Family” alcove with a little plaque describing the significance of this particular crucifix. It should be up within a few weeks.
Presentation of the Lord: This Tuesday, February 2, is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It’s also the day in the Church that we celebrate the vocation of consecrated men and women. We are especially thankful for Sr. Sharon and her more than 40 years of service in our parish. I love the readings for the day. Simeon’s only desire before he dies is to encounter the Lord. There are so many lists of “things to do before you die.” Simeon keeps it simple and chose the one thing necessary.
Please know of my prayers for you, especially during my time in Rome.
Msgr. Jerry
Saint quote of the week:
“Without confidence and love, there can be no true education. If you want to be loved…you must love yourselves, and make your children feel that you love them.” – St. John Bosco, Feast Day on Jan. 31
Back from Retreat
A big grace in a priest’s life every year is being able to make an annual retreat. I was blessed to go on retreat the second week of January and many people have been asking how it went. I want to share some of the graces that I received. My retreat was in Pennsylvania and was put on by a group called the Theology of the Body Insti-tute. In many ways, the retreat focused on the basics. Our retreat director gave daily seminars on types and methods of prayer, which is so key to the life of a priest. We can only give what we already have, which means that myprayer life directly impacts what I can give you! Something that Jesus convicted me on was not allowing distractions to rob my attention from Him. It can be easy to not remain engaged and focused on Jesus in prayer, which means I might miss the graces that He wants to give. The retreat built in time for prayer, Mass, adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation, and spiritual direction. In many ways, the retreat, like any good retreat, simply immersed me into the Heart of Christ so that He can do His work!
Another grace was the other people attending the retreat. I was able to attend the retreat with my twin brother, Fr. Todd. That was a blessing, since our schedules do not allow us to get together that often. I was also inspired by another priest, Fr. John, who came down from the Sagi-naw Diocese to attend the retreat. Fr. John is 74 years old, but to see his excitement to learn more about the faith and to deepen his own relationship with Christ was inspiring! We were also blessed to have a religious sister named Mother Olga come on the retreat to pray with and for us. Mother Olga was a little Iraqi nun who was about five feet tall, but when she looked at you, you felt like Je-sus was looking at you. Her presence and prayers were a great grace.
These are just some of the graces from my retreat. Thank you for your prayers and please know that I was praying for you all as well!
God Bless, Fr. Gary