Just a few notes this week as I am writing this before heading off to a retreat in DeWitt. I asked Fr. Gary to write about his trip to France.
Happy Mother’s Day: Dear Mothers, thank you for your love and support of your children, grandchildren and our parish! We remember all mothers with gratitude and affection—those who are with us now and those who live with us spiritually. Hope you enjoy your special day.
School Auction: I am really looking forward to the school auction this Saturday, May 20. Some of my family came last year. They really enjoyed it; and so more of my family is coming this year. As far as I know there are some tickets still available. If you are interested in attending, please contact the school office.
Remembering Joe: One of our foundation members of the parish, Joe Novajosky, passed away on May 8. He was 92 years old. Joe was always around the parish and still quite active. He was getting ready to move with his wife, Caryl, to Cincinnati to be closer to their daughter. We will all miss him, his love of the parish, and his engaging personality. Be assured of my prayers for you while I am on retreat.
Msgr. Jerry
Highlights from France
As I mentioned at my weekend Masses, I had a fantastic trip to France and I want to share some of the highlights! Thank you for your prayers as I was on retreat; and I was praying for you as well.
Ars
I traveled to France with my twin brother, Fr. Todd, as well as two other classmates. We spent the first five days making a silent retreat in Ars, which is the parish where St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, served. He was a famous confessor, who, in the last decade of his life, spent upward of 16 hours a day in the confessional. An estimated 80,000-100,000 people a year would come just to encounter Christ’s mercy through his ministry. St. Vianney is incorrupt, meaning his body is still largely intact, even though he died 150 years ago. He lies in state in a glass reliquary above an altar, where we were privileged to celebrate Mass three times. When I celebrated Mass at that altar, I remember looking up, seeing him, and forgetting what I was supposed to do next! At a different Mass we were also able to use his chalice, which was a great grace. Ars is located in beautiful farming country, so I also had some nice runs and walks exploring the area.
Paray-le-Monial & Nevers
After completing our retreat, we took a day trip to the cities of Paray-le-Monial and Nevers. Paray-le-Monial is the town where Christ revealed his Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary, from which our First Friday Devotions come. Her spiritual director, St. Claude Columbierre, was also buried in that town, so we could pray with both of those saints. Nevers is the city where St. Bernadette Soubirous, the visionary of Lourdes, is located. St. Bernadette is also in-corrupt and lies in state in a glass reliquary. It was beautiful to see the faith of other pilgrims from France who came and prayed at each of those places.
Lyon
We spent our Sunday exploring Lyon. We visited the ancient Cathedral in Lyon, as well as the church of Notre Dame de Fourviere, which is one of the most beautiful Churches I have ever seen! Before leaving for France a parishioner told me that the most amazing meal he had in France was a sausage dish called andouillette, which I discovered was sausage made entirely of tripe! I will try everything at least once, but I am not sure I would eat that again!
Lourdes
Mary appeared several times to a young shepherd girl, Bernadette Soubirous, in Lourdes in 1958. Several million people visit Lourdes every year and many take a bath in a miraculous spring of water that Mary had Bernadette dig. The most moving part of Lourdes for me was the rosary procession. Every night they have a rosary procession at 9:00 p.m. prayed in at least four or five different languages. There were several thousand people in the procession the night we were in Lourdes and it was inspiring to be surrounded by so many other faithful people who were honoring Jesus and Mary.
These were some of my highlights from a very amazing trip. It was truly an honor to visit so many holy places and it is good to bring some of those graces back home to Grand Blanc!
Fr. Gary