Diocese of Toledo, Ohio

Browsing From the Pastor

April 15/16 Bulletin Article

April 16, 2023

 

From the Pastor:

 

Thanks again to everyone who helped to prepare the church for Holy Week, assisted with the Liturgies, sang in the choirs, and to the altar servers for their help.  Your efforts and contributions are greatly appreciated by me and the parishioners.  Sharing your God given gifts and talents with the parish in this way greatly enhances the beauty of prayer together in church.  May your willingness to do so inspire other to do the same.

 

The Easter Vigil last weekend was a very special evening as it always is.  The evening is unmistakably spiritual and beautiful.  Certainly, one of the special moments that evening was when 13 people entered the Catholic Church and became the newest members of one of our three parishes.  Each of them received one or more of the Sacraments of Initiation, which are Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion.  In future bulletins, we will have their names and photos so you can welcome them to our parishes.  During the summer, they each will provide in the bulletin some information about themselves and of their journey to the Catholic Church.  Congratulations to each of them!

 

Another special aspect of the Easter Vigil this year was that all three of our parishes came together and filled the church at St. Peter!  Musicians and singers from all three parishes worked together to form one beautiful, powerful choir.  Their doing so was inspirational to many people, including myself!  Parishioners from all three parishes also shared the roles of lectors, ushers, and EMHCs (Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion).  I’m very grateful for how Deacon Al and Deacon John worked together assisting at the Mass.  Their service is always appreciated by me and our parishioners.

  

As we continue to remember and celebrate the sacred events of this past Holy Week, our prayer is that the Easter blessings will move each of us to greater faith in God and faithfulness to His teachings and commandments.  It is not uncommon after Easter to lose some or even all of the spiritual progress we made during Lent.  We can avert this by continuing throughout the year some of what we were doing during Lent.  This will help prevent weakness in fighting temptations.  God directs us to prayer, fasting and almsgiving throughout the year, not just during Lent.

 

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday, and I invite you to a special Holy Hour today at 3 pm at St. Mary Parish.  This special hour of prayer is not the product of human thinking, but it was given to us by Jesus himself.  It was less than one hundred years ago that Jesus instructed St. Faustina about Divine Mercy.  Jesus said: “The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness.  It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.  Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.”  Please heed the appeal of our Savior and join in the special Hour of Mercy at St. Mary.

 

Gratefully,

Fr. Miller

Subscribe

RSS Feed

Archive


Access all blogs

Subscribe to all of our blogs