Dear Parishioners, I think high school ministry was easily the area most commented upon in last spring’s parish survey regarding what should be improved. In addition to the many comments on the survey, I have had numerous people approach me since I arrived to mention their concern
Read more →Archive for the Pastor’s Corner Category
Dear Parishioners, On November 20th, we had another pastoral council meeting. The following is a summary: -Most of the time was spent considering the Mass times survey that was put together by the Mass times committee. We are so grateful for their work. Both the Mass times
Read more →Dear Parishioners, Bishop Daniel Thomas’ evening vespers and welcoming reception at Defiance St. John’s Parish on November 17 was tremendous! I knew many parishioners would not be able to come, because of prior commitments; but the turnout from Divine Mercy Parish was impressive–even despite terribly cold temperatures
Read more →Dear Parishioners, Here is a smorgasbord of parish activity/news that I am thinking of: -This past week the Paulding campus air conditioning committee met to finalize our decision to ask the Diocese for permission to upgrade the air conditioning system, fixing the problem of loudness, and lack
Read more →Dear Parishioners, National Vocations Awareness Week for the Church in the United States was moved from January to this past week. The particular focus of this week is vocations to the priesthood and religious life. I would like to focus especially on the priesthood, given that the
Read more →Dear Parishioners, When I received a totally unexpected call from the Diocesan Administrator this past Spring, asking me to leave the two parishes I was pastoring, and which I loved (I love Divine Mercy parishioners! Don’t mistake what I am saying here.) it took a very special
Read more →Dear Parishioners, +JMJ With this letter I would like to give you a quick synopsis of the most recent Financial Council meeting we had – almost 2 weeks ago now: -We reviewed our initial responses to each of the findings from the diocesan audit. Our responses were
Read more →Dear Parishioners, On Monday, October 13th the Vatican released its Relatio post disceptionem, its “report after discussion”; i.e., the final document weaving in all of the themes discussed thus far at the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome on the topic of the family. Because there has
Read more →Dear Parishioners, We finally received the audit report from the diocese; and we’re being asked to provide by the end of October an initial response to all the items raised. Many of the items–especially those regarding money handling–have already been dealt with. For example, tamperproof, sealing bags
Read more →Dear Parishioners, On Saturday, November 8, I will be teaching a diocesan course that catechists can attend for certification. The name of the course is Mysterium Christi. Actually, this will be one of five total sessions that make up the course. The session starts at 9 AM
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