Dear Parishioners, 

Thank you for your support of Fr. Joseph’s missionary appeal that was held last weekend. It was to help fund the completion of a rectory in Uganda. Of course, with the bulletin deadlines, I don’t have an up to date accounting of how much money was raised, but every bit that was collected is helpful as we seek to support the work of the Church in the missions, especially the Missions of the St. Francis de Sales community in Africa. 

Speaking of Fr. Joseph, if you have been on vacation or out of town the past few weeks, you may have missed Bishop Lohse’s announcement. Effective on August 1st (this weekend), he has been assigned to the collaborative of St. Mary’s Church in Niles. That also includes the church of St. Anthony in Buchanan as well as the mission church of St. Gabriel in Berrien Springs. He will be living in the rectory at Buchanan. Please keep him in your prayers as he begins this new ministry.

Until Bishop Lohse has a chance to find another priest to assist here at St. Catherine, I will be on my own. Knowing that I can’t do everything by myself with the size of our parish community, I certainly will be relying on our deacons and staff, but I do have some priest help coming in each weekend for one of the Masses and on my day off. That means that I still will be able to get to everything that needs to be done, but it might take me a little longer! It’s just another chance for me to remind everyone to pray for more vocations!

In just a few weeks, school will be starting again for Fall. Parents, if you haven’t registered your children and youth for Faith Formation classes, please remember to do so! In addition to this, if someone is interested in learning more about the faith and becoming Catholic through the OCIA program, please contact me. 

Next month, we will be celebrating our 60th anniversary with our annual parish picnic. This is on the Sunday following Labor Day. Please mark your calendars and join us for food and a celebration of our parish community following the 11 a.m. Mass on September 13th. More details can be found in the bulletin and on our media in the next few weeks. 

Thanks for reading! 

Fr. Mark