+JMJ
Dear Parishioners,
After many months of looking for a purchaser, we finally sold the pipe organ in the loft of Antwerp’s campus to another church. As was predicted by an organ expert when we first started this journey, nobody wanted the organ as is for playing music. Rather, the church purchasing it wants the pipes in the façade of the organ, because they are refurbishing their church, giving it a more traditional look. So our pipe organ façade will cover up their electric organ. Many thanks to those parishioners who worked so hard to remove the organ and store the parts! Our plan is to build some seating in the organ loft, since we regularly have more parishioners at Mass than can fit into the nave of the church (a good problem to have!).
On Friday, October 30th we had our first deanery meeting with me as the new dean. Two representatives from the diocesan pastoral center came to speak with us: Deacon Joe Malenfant, Senior Director of the Department of Discipleship and Family Life, and Mr. Zach Silka, Director of Communications for the diocese. Both men are new to the diocesan pastoral center, so they are visiting each of the deaneries to introduce themselves, and to get to know the diocese more fully.
I was contacted by the head of the Jubilee Year of Mercy committee for the diocese, resulting in Divine Mercy Parish’s Paulding campus being designated by the Bishop as one of four churches in the diocese that will have a “Jubilee Year Door”. I met with the Jubilee Year committee on Monday, November 2nd at the diocesan pastoral center (before having this letter written). In a future bulletin letter, I will explain what a Jubilee Door is all about. The other churches in the diocese having a Jubilee Year Door are: the Cathedral, Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue and Our Lady of Consolation Basilica in Carey. On November 13th, the Bishop will promulgate the Jubilee Year plan of the diocese.
Many, many thanks to all those who worked on the bazaar at our Paulding campus. It seems to me to be a very wholesome event, participated in by parishioners from all three campuses. Good food, good fellowship, and a little fundraising!
This next Saturday evening is our second all-parish-high school event of the season. We are having a beanbag Catholic movie night at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Paulding. Details are elsewhere in this bulletin, and they are being distributed through the YDisciple network. The movie we chose is For Greater Glory. It is a super high-quality film that presents the dilemma of Catholics in the first half of this last century in Mexico. So close to us in time, and geographically, the Catholic Church in Mexico experienced tremendous persecution. Out of it all, the Church gained the witness of martyrs beatified only recently by Pope St. John Paul II. Perhaps the most famous of the martyrs from these Cristiada Wars is Blessed Miguel Pro. From him we heard the motto: “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” as he was before the firing squad (“Long Live Christ the King!”). I hope all of our high school students will consider watching this inspiring movie together this coming Saturday evening. As usual, we will have refreshments… even popcorn from a theater-quality popcorn maker! If you have any questions about the event, please call Theresa Conley, or one of the high school core team leaders, such as Mary Ecklund or Karen Burnett. This movie night is open to any high school parishioner. It is not necessary to be part of a YDisciple group, in order to participate in our all-parish high school events.
Please note that I will be teaching another session of the diocesan “Mysterium Christi Course” on Saturday, November 21 from 9 AM-2:30 PM. The topic will be “An Introduction to Scripture”. While all Catholic school teachers in the diocese are required to take the Mysterium Christi course, at our parish I am also inviting any parishioner to come to the course, as a source of ongoing education. Details for how to register are elsewhere in our bulletin. Call Theresa Conley with any questions.
If you have not yet given to the Antwerp moisture repair fund, please consider doing so. By the end of December I should have all the fundraising done for this project, in order to set in motion the process for obtaining final permission from the diocese, and getting the necessary quotes from contractors in advance of this permission. We are looking at doing the repair in the Spring. On November 19th, I will update the finance council on the progress and our options for moving forward.
Have a blessed week!
In cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Poggemeyer
