Diocese of Toledo, Ohio

Browsing From the Pastor

March 11/12 Bulletin Article

From the Pastor:                           

We are very pleased to have Bishop Thomas with us this Sunday afternoon for the regional prayer service he is having at St. Peter church. I’m looking forward to seeing him as well as priests, deacons, and parishioners from the southeast part of our diocese. This special time of prayer before the Lord will surely bring additional growth to your spiritual life this Lenten season. God is eager to bestow His grace on those who make the sacrifice of time for Him. After the prayer service, you are invited to a light reception with food and drinks in the church basement.  

We are also very pleased to have Fr. Hayes, O.P., with us for five days. As I previously mentioned, he is preaching all the Masses this weekend. The theme of the three-day mission is similar to what brings Bishop Thomas to our area this Sunday. In both cases the goal is to help each of us better experience the presence of Christ every day through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. For those who attend, we will better understand and live what Jesus said: “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20). Again, God pours out His grace to all who sacrifice their time for Him.

As was mentioned at the Masses last weekend, beginning this Easter, we will resume distribution from the chalice for Holy Communion at all Masses, provided that we have enough distributors to assist us priests and deacons. Most parishes in our diocese have already restored this option for reception of Holy Communion since the pandemic is in the past, thankfully! If you have a love for the Eucharist, please consider helping with the distribution of Holy Communion as an EMHC. New and existing EMHCs should plan on attending one of the upcoming training sessions (Saturday, March 18 or Sunday, March 26). Please see this bulletin for more details.

This coming Friday is the feast day of St. Patrick. As you probably know, some people have the tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage for dinner that day. However, what is a Catholic to do about this when St. Patrick’s feast day is on Friday during Lent, which is when we refrain from eating meat? This is a big dilemma for some people! Bishop Thomas has allowed Catholics to celebrate the day by eating meat that day but on the condition that they transfer the abstinence of meat to another day that week.

My thought on this is what would St. Patrick want us to do? I’m completely confident that he would say the same as what John the Baptist said of himself and of Jesus: “HE must increase and I must decrease!” St. Patrick would want us to be with Jesus, walking the road to Calvary, and being with the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross as Jesus was willingly crucified for our salvation. The more we Catholics, and Christians in general, reconnect to being with Jesus every Friday of the year, the more we will transformed into the likeness of Christ, and the more we will bring God’s goodness into this world.

In HIS love,
Fr. Miller

 

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Fr. Miller

Pastor

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