February 28th- The Third Sunday of Lent

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

THIS ‘N THAT ON THE LAST WEEK-END IN FEBRUARY

Congratulations to Ms. Mary Moomey! She has

accepted the challenge of adding the duties of

Youth Minister to her job description. As you may

remember, Mary has been with us as Director of

Faith Formation for just about a year and she has

formed the opinion that it is now time for the par-
ish to widen the horizon of faith formation to in-
clude the youth of the community with the very

young children and the adults with whom she has

been working. Watch for more information about

her youth ministry activities as she warms to the

demands of the job.

During my homily last weekend I mentioned the

opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation

for members of our parish. These will be men-
tioned again in the announcements after Mass

this weekend. You may be wondering about the

Reconciliation Service to be held at Mt. St. Jo-
seph Church in St. Louis March 16; this is an ex-
periment for this Lent because Father Fred and

Father Nate have observed declining numbers of

parishioners participating in this activity. It is be-
lieved that by combining services with neighbor-
ing parishes that participation may increase. So,

if you are unable to attend the “24 hours with

Jesus” at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart Church

March 4 and 5, please consider attending the ser-
vice at St. Louis March 16.

At this time there is no word regarding a replace-
ment for me as your Pastoral Administrator. The

Bishop and the Personnel Board have a big job to

consider all the changes to be made through re-
tirements and requests for assignment changes

across the diocese. They will want to be sure they

find someone who is just right for every parish

needing a new person. Therefore, I anticipate no

announcement in this matter before Easter at the

earliest.

As I wrote the previous paragraph, I realized that

as you read this message it will be only four

weeks until Easter will be here. When Easter is

here, can Maple Syrup Festival be far behind?

And when Maple Syrup Festival is here, can the

beautiful Michigan spring weather be far behind?

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike