+JMJ
Dear Parishioners,
I've said it before, and I'll say it again! The flower beds around our church campus are amazingly beautiful! Thank you to all those volunteers who put so many hours into cultivating this beauty! I regularly hear from guests who come to our church how impressed they are with the beauty of our gardens. The beauty certainly plays a part in preparing hearts entering the Church to encounter our Lord!
On another note, please realize that we always have room for, and need for, more volunteers for various liturgical ministries. We could use more greeters, and more servers, and Mass coordinators, and live-streaming people. Tami Honse can answer questions you have about any of these ministries. Here, too, I have to express my gratitude for all who currently help in any capacity with our liturgies.
Next, I want to let you know that I will be gone for the next two weeks (but only one weekend). I'll be out from June 12th-June 23rd. For the first week, I will be in Mexico for a wedding. The bride is the daughter of the Hispanic outreach couple from my last parish. They needed a Priest who can speak Spanish and English, and preferably a priest they know. I will be in the state of Jalisco, where many shed blood defending the Catholic Faith early this last century. I will remember all of you at any shrines I visit.
As soon as I return to the airport in Detroit the evening of the 20th I will drive straight to Plymouth, Michigan, where the priests of our Diocese will be starting their convocation through Thursday the 23rd. The convocation this year will be a retreat led by Fr. John Riccardo, who a few years ago founded an organization named Acts XXIX. You realize that the Book of Acts has only 28 chapters. The name helps us realize that we are living the follow-up to the Book of Acts, bringing the Gospel to the world, anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit, like the first members of the Church. Please remember all the priests of the Diocese during this convocation.
On the weekend of June 17-19, Jessica Pehmoeller and Dcn. Kyle Ink, and other chaperones, will be leading a group of our youth to the yearly conference in Steubenville, Ohio. Please pray that the Holy Spirit powerfully touch the hearts of all youth attending this conference. Thanks in advance for your prayers! Have a blessed week!
In cordibus Iesu, Mariae et Iosephus,
Father Poggemeyer