1. Fr. Patrick’s Holy Homework Each morning and several times a day this week, ask Jesus: “Jesus please grant me the grace to think with you! Help me to check in with you regarding my thoughts on various matters. Please help me to know when my thinking has become merely human. I love you Jesus and want to share my mind with you!”
2. Fake e-mails – again! Last week Dcn Paul received an email from someone posing as Fr. Patrick. The email asked for a favor. Fortunately, the email return address was a rather odd one; clearly, the email was not from Fr. Patrick! BEWARE OF FAKE EMAILS!
3. PLEASE, register for attending weekend Masses; Video Links Our Masses are: Saturday, 4pm; Sunday 11am. The 11am Mass will be livestreamed. Click on the button below for viewing the Mass. [Videos of Masses from prior weekends are also available at this site.]
If you have not registered (by noon on Saturday) to attend Mass in person and you still wish to attend a Mass at church this weekend please: - park in the parking lot a little ahead of Mass time, - go to the parking lot side entrance, - and ask the staff at that doorway if there is still available room. If there is room in church they will do a check-in process for you. Based on the slightly relaxed directions from AOD there is now more space available in the church to attend Mass in person.
4. Weekday Masses: Our usual weekday Mass schedule is: Monday 8:30am; 12:15pm Tuesday 8:30am; 6:00pm Thursday 8:30am; 6:00pm Friday 8:30am; 12:15pm This schedule will change due to funerals and other events; these emails will keep you informed of such changes.
5. AOD “Families of Parishes” Three other dioceses, two in the United States and one in Canada, have created successful ways to sustain parish life in spite of the general decline of numbers in the priesthood. The Archdiocese of Detroit is studying the efforts of those three dioceses and expects to form structures like their successful programs.
A general reaction is “Oh, no! Not more clustering and merging!” Happily, it is not like clustering and merging! It is typically a grouping of three to six parishes and a sharing of parish staffs. A goal of these organizational efforts is to maintain the power and joy of parish communities, communities where people have worshiped together, have worked on committees together, and have formed long-term personal friendships.
Shortly, the AOD parish priests will be attending a seminar where the three other dioceses will be presenting materials on how they are successfully operating in this new model. More information will be coming here over the next few months.
6. FORMED: What to watch this week: FORMED is one of the services provided by the Augustine Institute out in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Each week FORMED publishes a list of the special items for that week. Please click on the following link to see this week’s highlights.
7. Get a Flu Shot! Yes, I am an engineer by background … not a medical type! However, all my medical friends are strongly inviting us, encouraging us, pushing us to get our flu shot … soon! Now! [A personal endorsement from Dcn Paul! Yes, I got my shot on in August!]