Dear Parishioners, When I was growing up, I thought everyone’s dad and uncles had served in the military. Of course, that was another generation and a different time in the world. Perhaps hearing about all the things that had happened to them and the places they had been made me interested in studying history (my undergraduate degree). But as many of you know, that generation in my family is entirely gone. All I have left are a lot of family pictures and memories. This Memorial Day weekend is indeed about memories. It is about the generations of men and women who have helped preserve our freedom. As I remember my dad and uncles, and others who I know served our country in this way, I urge you to keep those who you knew, and even the unknown and forgotten soldier, in your prayers. It’s important to remember what they did for all of us. As we especially remember those who have already left this Earth, let us pray for them in this way: May their souls, and the souls of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. As we began the Bishop’s Appeal right after Easter, and now, at the conclusion of Easter, it’s time for us to be thankful to everyone who has already pledged and supported the work of the Church through the appeal. We will end promoting the BAA on Friday, June 11. For those who have their pledge cards at home, there’s still time for you to make your pledge! Every pledge, big or small, will help us reach our goal this year. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

As a Church, we pray for one another that the Lord continues to bless, guide, strengthen, and console us. One incredibly beautiful and ancient way we can pray for someone is to have a Mass offered for that person. It is a holy and devout practice to have Masses offered for a loved one, living or deceased. Masses may be offered on any day, but many offer them on a birthday, anniversary, or for a special need. To learn more about Mass Intentions, or to schedule a Mass Intention online, visit our website at https://stcatherinesiena.org/massintentions. Please click on the article title to view the Mass Intentions for May 29 - June 6, 2021.

Are you new to St. Catherine's? Welcome! Are you interested in membership? Do you have questions about the church? We’re here to help you! Contact our Front Office at 327-5165 or [email protected] anytime for answers to your questions or for help with church membership.

This past weekend, we celebrated Pentecost Sunday. In their homilies (https://stcatherinesiena.org/homilies), our clergy discussed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Do you want to know more about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and how to use them in your life? Click on the article title for a great post from Busted Halo to learn more!

Dear Parishioners, Happy Pentecost! In the eyes of the Church, Pentecost is seen as a day of new beginnings; the day that the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and gave them the courage they needed to preach the Gospel. During this pandemic, the Feast of Pentecost has also been a day of new beginnings for our local churches. Last year, Pentecost was the first time we were able to celebrate Mass publicly in several months. This year on Pentecost, Bishop Bradley has invited everyone to return to Sunday Masses. (Please see a copy of this letter online at http://bit.ly/BPJPLetterMay2021. Also, view his video on the Diocesan YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/f2hmBw3vyok). We welcome back our friends and parishioners that, due to the circumstances of the pandemic, haven’t been able to join us. Please be assured that we continue to make our parish a safe environment to pray and attend Mass. As our numbers continue to grow, please note that we have made some changes to the location of some of our “temporary” Mass sites. The 9:00 am Mass will return to the main church building. Since the 11:00 am Mass has the largest attendance, we will offer two Masses at the 11 am time slot: one in the main church and the second in the gym. As our staff and volunteers have done throughout this past year, we will continue to monitor the attendance at the weekend Masses to see if we need to make any further adjustments. Our staff thanks you for your cooperation and patience during these unusual times. A special thanks to everyone who has pledged and given to support the work of the Church throughout our diocese by your donation to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. If we haven’t heard from you, please prayerfully consider a pledge. Thank for reading! Fr. Mark

As a Church, we pray for one another that the Lord continues to bless, guide, strengthen, and console us. One incredibly beautiful and ancient way we can pray for someone is to have a Mass offered for that person. It is a holy and devout practice to have Masses offered for a loved one, living or deceased. Masses may be offered on any day, but many offer them on a birthday, anniversary, or for a special need. To learn more about Mass Intentions, or to schedule a Mass Intention online, visit our website at https://stcatherinesiena.org/massintentions. Please click on the article title to view the Mass Intentions for May 22-May 30, 2021.

We are pleased to announce you may now use Holy Water as you enter the Main Church or Marian Hall using touchless dispensers. They work just like hand sanitizer machines, but they are NOT SANITIZER. You may also get small bottles of Holy Water at our Front Office anytime by stopping by Monday through Friday between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm, or contacting us at [email protected] or 327-5165 to request a bottle. Did you know holy water is an example of a sacramental? A sacramental is something that “bears a resemblance to the sacraments,” disposes us to receive God’s grace, and always includes a prayer, such as the Sign of the Cross (CCC 1667-1668). Holy water symbolizes our baptism and how God brings blessings into our lives. Its Christian origins and use are recorded as far back as the 5th century AD! Holy water is usually blessed as part of Mass, particularly during the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, but a priest or deacon may bless water outside Mass using a specific rite, or prayer. Once blessed, holy water should be used with reverence and for its sacramental purpose. Don’t let that scare you away though! While we mostly associate using holy water entering and exiting church on Sundays, you can take it home with you in an appropriate container! Use holy water to start and end your day, put it in a font at doorways, bless your family, home, garden (a medieval tradition), pets, car, and more. Remember, holy water is blessed, so it should be used reverently. Its use outside of Sacraments and specific rites is always optional; you don’t have to use it entering church even. While not a sin to drink holy water, this is not recommended for sanitary reasons. Whether you touch, sprinkle, or drink does not give a “bonus” spiritual effect. To dispose of holy water, pour it out into the earth in a place like a garden (never into normal plumbing!), or give it to your parish.

Consider supporting your parish by purchasing a lasting and permanent dedication to a loved one or yourself. By acquiring your own brick, you will be placing a lasting memory around the fountain at our entrance of St. Catherine of Siena Church. Contact our Front Office at [email protected] or call 327-5165 for more information.

A special thanks to Paula White, our Parish Nurse, for leading the parish in our Parish Nurse Health Ministry. This ministry exists to strengthen the healing mission of Jesus in our parish community. Even in this time of COVID, the Parish Nurse Health ministry is active with grief support through weekly GriefShare meetings on Zoom, provision of health information for the bulletin, website and by email, support to our Primetimers (ages 55+), and health counseling to individuals with health concerns. In addition, Paula is an active knitter for our Prayer Shawl Weavers ministry! Paula also leads our parish Health Advisory Committee which provides input and guides the activities of the ministry. If you have an interest in the intersection of faith and health we would welcome you to the Advisory Committee. One need not be a health care professional to join. If you are interested in participating in any of the Parish Nurse Health ministries or joining the Health Advisory Committee, please contact Paula White at 330-3762 or [email protected]. Thank you, Paula, for everything you do for our parish!

We’ve had many changes happening within the last week. Please read the letter from Father Mark (click on the article title or go to http://bit.ly/FrMarkPentecost2021) regarding what you can expect when you return to Masses this Pentecost weekend, May 22/23. You may also find this letter, and many previous announcements, posted on our website under “Links.”

This coming Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost - the birthday of the Church! Do you want to learn more about this coming celebration? Click on the article title to check out a post and video from Busted Halo or visit https://www.catholic.org/lent/pentecost.php for more information about Pentecost. For some great Pentecost information and activities for kids, please check out https://www.catholicicing.com/whos-ready-to-celebrate-pentecost/.

As the collection for the 2021 Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Rice Bowl campaign ends, we want to share with you that we were able to collect $1,083.75 for this important ministry! This money will partly be used to teach people how to garden themselves, and then collect the seeds to garden the following year. This will enable them to have the seeds annually without having to buy more. Then year after year, they can continue to grow their crops. They are not only being fed one time but given the skillset to feed themselves for a lifetime. Thank you for your generosity!

Dear Parishioners, Sometimes we may feel just like the disciples: looking up at Heaven and wondering where is our Lord. But as the angels would remind the disciples, we do not have to keep looking for the Lord, for He is always here with us. We do not have to doubt or fear, for the Lord will never abandon us. As we find ourselves in these final days of the Easter season, and prepare ourselves for the great feast of Pentecost, may we never forget how the Lord is always near. As we continue to make progress towards our Bishop’s Annual Appeal 2021 goal, I would like to thank everyone who has helped us get to this point. I hope we can wrap up our pledge portion of this campaign within the next few weeks. If you haven’t had a chance to pledge or make a gift yet to support the work of the Church in our diocese, there’s still time. Please prayerfully consider a pledge; no gift is too large or too small. Pledge envelopes can be found at the entrance of the church and one can pledge anytime online at http://www.diokzoo.org (please click on the BAA 2021 link once you get to the site). May the Lord continue to bless all the ministries and outreach of the Church throughout these counties of Southwestern Michigan. Please continue to pray for our 1st Communion students. We wrap up our 1st Communions at the weekend Masses next weekend on Pentecost. As we have gradually reopened and returned to Mass a year ago at Pentecost, Bishop Bradley announced that the General Dispensation from Sunday Mass will expire on May 23, Pentecost Sunday 2021. Since this was just announced by the Diocese last week, we will have more details soon, but we wanted to get the word out as soon as possible. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

As a Church, we pray for one another that the Lord continues to bless, guide, strengthen, and console us. One incredibly beautiful and ancient way we can pray for someone is to have a Mass offered for that person. It is a holy and devout practice to have Masses offered for a loved one, living or deceased. Masses may be offered on any day, but many offer them on a birthday, anniversary, or for a special need. To learn more about Mass Intentions, or to schedule a Mass Intention online, visit our website at https://stcatherinesiena.org/massintentions. Please click on the article title to view the Mass Intentions for May 15-May 23, 2021.

We wish to extend a warm welcome to our Parish family to those baptized in the month of April. Welcome, and Congratulations! Please click on the article title to see the list of those baptized in April 2021.

We would like to extend a warm St. Catherine's welcome to our newest members for the month of April 2021. We're glad you're part of our St. Catherine's Family. Please click on the article title to see the list of new parishioners for April 2021.

This coming Sunday is Ascension Sunday (though some Dioceses celebrate Ascension Thursday, the celebration of the Feast of the Ascension is moved to Sunday in the Diocese of Kalamazoo). Have you ever wanted to know more about the Ascension? Click on the post title to read a great article from Busted Halo for more information!

Reminder - St. Catherine's now offers a "Text to Give" option that is completely contactless and easy to do! Click on the article title to view a flyer with more information, or visit the Giving page of our website (https://www.stcatherinesiena.org/give) for details on all the ways you can give to our parish. If you have any questions, contact Al DeMars at [email protected] or Linda Reaume at [email protected].

Did You Know? Spiritual Bouquets are prayers or devotional acts that someone offers for another person or group to express joy, sorrow, best wishes, or in commemoration of a special occasion. The recipient is given some kind of note or message letting them know who the giver is and what the spiritual bouquet consists of. Givers usually offer things like a number of Masses attended, Holy Communions offered, Rosaries and/or other prayers said, good deeds performed, or special messages. Prayers benefit all. This ministry can easily be done communally or alone, at church or at home. Many who are homebound are the best “pray-ers”, so they are a special gift to this ministry. A very special "thank you" to our Respect Life Ministry, who offered a spiritual bouquet to the Blessed Mother at yesterday's 11 am Mass! The flowers which accompanied the intentions were absolutely beautiful! To see pictures of yesterday's Spiritual Bouquet, please click on the article title.

Dear Parishioners, In this month of May, we honor the Mother of God, Mary most holy. As we try to spend a little time with our moms, grandmothers, even godmothers this weekend, also spend some time with the Blessed Mother. For her example is not only an inspiration to all mothers, but also to draw us closer to her son. She would have done anything for him. May the Lord bless all our moms today and always! This is also week number two for all the students receiving their 1st Holy Communion this spring. With two 1st Communion sessions each weekend (Saturday at 4:00 pm and Sunday at 5:00 pm), we are already at the halfway point of our schedule. Please continue to keep them in prayer. In all the years that I have done 1st Communions, I never tire of seeing the joy that fills the hearts of our youth when they receive the Lord for the first time in His Body and His Blood. Some of you may also be wondering when we are doing Confirmations at St. Catherine’s this year. We have a little different format this year as the Bishop has asked all confirmation students to join him for Confirmation at the Cathedral versus having them at the parishes. Our youth are scheduled for a Saturday at the end of June. Please keep these students in your prayers as well as they begin these final weeks of preparation. Happy Mother’s Day! Fr. Mark