Dear Parishioners,

As we continue our celebration of Easter this weekend, it is also Divine Mercy Sunday. This Sunday is not only another chance to continue the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection, but it is also a chance for us to be reminded of what happened when He died for us on the Cross. His mercy is something that endures and it is a powerful reminder of how He changed our lives. This mercy helps us to clearly focus on the path to Heaven. Let us pray always: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

Having finished major construction on the buildings, especially as we get close to our one-year anniversary of the tornado, where do we go next? With the number of buildings we have, we always have a project or two underway. Since the weather is getting warmer and the grass is getting green, it’s time to do landscaping and the repairs of the sprinkler system around the rectory and in a few other places that the tornado hit (or was necessary to tear up for construction). Also, you may have noticed that the heating/cooling system in the main building has been having problems for quite some time. The tornado delayed work on this for over a year, and we are finally commencing the project to begin work on replacing the control system that was installed at the renovation time in 2006. Please be patient as we do this work. 

Thanks to all our volunteers and staff that helped, especially with Holy Week and our Easter celebrations. And a special thanks to all of you who contributed to helping us provide for our Easter flowers and decorations. Your help makes this time of year very beautiful as we celebrate the Easter season. Congratulations also to all our newly baptized and those who were received into the Church at the Easter Vigil.

In these weeks after Easter, it is also time to kick off our Bishop’s Annual Appeal at the parish for 2025. In the coming weeks, I will be explaining what this annual appeal does, and we will be given the opportunity to support the work of the Church throughout our Diocese of Kalamazoo. Our goal this year is $289,211. We made our goal last year and received a refund back to the parish. I appreciate your continued support of allowing the work of the Church to continue to grow and flourish.

Last, but not least, this coming Tuesday, April 29th is the feast day of our patron, St. Catherine of Siena. We are having a special donut day and other treats this Sunday (after the morning Masses). Please join us as we celebrate our feast day! May St. Catherine continue to send many blessings upon our parish! 

Thanks for reading!

Fr. Mark