Dear Parishioners, How did we already start the month of October? It's been a busy September as we have welcomed back a number of groups along with in-person Faith Formation classes. I am looking forward to a little cooler weather, especially on Saturday mornings, as we continue to have confessions in the parking lot from 11:00 am—12:00 pm. Every week I hope to have more news to share with you about the renovation and construction project going on in the Marian Hall and the kitchen. And with each week, we come a little closer to finishing (but not yet). Please see the posters of photos of our updates in the Narthex when you come to Mass. We will do our best to keep them updated. This month of October also begins our second full month of the Jubilee Year of the Holy Spirit. More than anything else, this Jubilee Year gives us each a special opportunity to pray, both individually, and as a family, to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us to grow in our faith. The Holy Spirit has certainly made an impact on my life as a priest. Are you ready for the Holy Spirit to make an impact on your life of faith? Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, Our fall classes, Faith Formation, Bible Studies, and RCIA have all started. It’s nice to have everything back in person versus what we were forced to do during the early days of the pandemic. But we are still doing everything we can to keep everyone safe and healthy on our campus. As we have brought all these things back, some of the groups may notice that they are in different locations. During the past few months, our staff had an opportunity to look at how our facilities were used and we decided to make better use of our buildings. For example, the meeting rooms and spaces in the Stanley Centre are now being utilized more for parish group meetings and activities. We also had to take a hard look at which groups actually belonged to the parish and which groups did not have a parish affiliation. It’s only natural that our liturgical schedule (Masses, funerals, weddings) and faith instruction for children and adults should have first priority followed by groups that are sponsored by St. Catherine’s. Groups that previously asked to use our facilities but were not from our parish, or a bona fide parish activity, have not been given priority over our parish groups. This has freed spaces to accommodate our parish groups in a better way. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we have made these adjustments. Of course, everyone is waiting for the renovations and construction to finish on Marian Hall and the parish kitchen. Every week we get a little closer to this goal, but we are not there yet. There are always delays in construction projects. In the meantime, our donut crews have come up with “donuts to go” after the Sunday morning Masses. These are not our homemade donuts, but Sweetwater donuts we had to purchase as a temporary measure. Our donut crews will be standing by and will be ready when construction is completed! Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, A few weeks ago, Bishop Bradley began our celebration of a special Jubilee Year of the Holy Spirit. I think many of you have noticed that the Bishop has asked us to pray a special Jubilee prayer each week at Mass after Communion. If you haven’t had a chance to pick up a prayer card to pray individually or with your family at home, Jubilee prayer cards can be found on the table by the statue of John the Baptist. Additionally, the Bishop has written a special pastoral letter entitled: “Let our Hearts be ‘In-spired’ for Mission: A Pastoral Letter on the Holy Spirit.” This can be found on the diocesan website (diokzoo.org) under the special Jubilee Year banner on the homepage. Please take a few minutes to read this pastoral letter to help us reflect on this special year. May the Holy Spirit inspire each one of us in our faith and help our parish to grow in faith and love each day. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, I have heard from several of you how you have enjoyed viewing the pictures of the ongoing renovation project in Marian Hall. Every day we move another step or two closer to completion. We are taking regular progress photos that show our significant progress. As we continue construction, these are things that we can look forward to when the project is complete: new flooring in the kitchen and Marian Hall; a new commercial-grade freezer; a new commercial-grade dishwasher and separate space for dishwashing; a new icemaker; a new water heater; a new (washable) kitchen ceiling and LED light fixtures; new food prep areas; a new, larger kitchen storage area (already completed in 2019). Since the kitchen is now over 35 years old, we also needed to do some upgrades to meet the current building codes. This includes a hood over the stove: a new fire suppression system in the hood; upgrades to the fire alarm system and ventilation upgrades; and other building code requirements and plumbing code requirements for commercial-style kitchens. We also managed to stop the storm drain water overflow into the kitchen area that has been a problem for a number of years. None of these updates would be possible without the many special donations from individual parishioners and groups like the Knights of Columbus. Thank you for your help with making these renovations possible. When the work is complete, we are planning to have an open house to show off these renovations in the kitchen and Marian Hall before we open this area for use. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

On this 20th Anniversary of 9/11, please click on the article title to read a reflection from Father Mark. May we never forget...

Dear Parishioners, I think many of us will welcome the fall season after all the different swings in weather we have had over the past few months. We have had a drought and then torrential rains/ flooding. We went from cool to hot and humid. Now we find ourselves on Labor Day weekend and what is considered the end of the summer. While taking a break from our labors on this holiday weekend, keep in your prayers those who are still struggling because of the effects of the pandemic and those finding it hard to make ends meet. Just a reminder for parents of school-aged children, please sign your children up for our Faith Formation classes, which begin in person next Sunday, September 12, for grades 1-5, as soon as possible. Late registration ends on Monday, September 20. Since I am working on my columns ahead of time to make all the bulletin deadlines, I am hoping that we were able to secure enough volunteer catechists to staff our classrooms. Because the COVID situation is continuing, we are giving priority to grades first through fifth, and then we will try to see if we can open classrooms for the younger ones (parents can put themselves on the waiting list). Also, for parents of youth who are looking for Confirmation, please contact Phil Dezern ([email protected]) to begin the process. All of this contact information and registration information can be found elsewhere in the bulletin. I hope you have been following the progress photos we have been posting in the Narthex and on Facebook. Next week I will have a more extensive explanation of what we can look forward to as we prepare to put this area back in service this fall. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, Thank you to everyone who came out last weekend for our first Parish Picnic in a long time. We had a wonderful time and we look forward to having another social event soon! This weekend our Diocese begins the Jubilee Year of the Holy Spirit. It began yesterday with the feast of the Patron of our Diocese, St. Augustine. This year will continue until the feast of Pentecost in 2022 (June 5). In a special way as a Diocese, we are joining together in prayer to call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us and descend upon the entire Diocese. An introduction video by Bishop Bradley was released this past week and can be viewed on the Diocesan website (just click on the article title to watch the video) to explain this special year that is before us. As we begin this Jubilee Year, I encourage you to pray for all your priests during these upcoming months. This is helpful to us in our ministry; prayers support us and guide us in our work each day, especially when the numbers of priests are fewer than we had before. May the Holy Spirit also call more men and women to consider a vocation to the priesthood or the religious life. I hope that the weeks and months ahead of us in this Jubilee Year will be a fruitful time for all of us. Come Holy Spirit, be with us and guide us always! It’s also time for another school year! We all know that the last several school years have been very unusual because of the pandemic. As this next academic year begins, may we keep in prayer all our students, teachers, and staff. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, You may have noticed that my profile picture on my column has changed again. It’s construction time in Marian Hall and in particular, the renovation of the kitchen. The hard hat is from one of my former parish renovation projects. After the initial planning and donations for this project were led by Fr. Ken, I had to pause the project during the days of the shutdown and the uncertainty that followed. We were finally able to put this project back on track. Just a few weeks ago, we received our final approvals from the City of Portage to start the project. Demolition has been done and the different trades have been in to start on their area of the project. Of course, everyone wants to know when construction is going to wrap up and we can begin using Marian Hall and the kitchen again. We will have to wait several more weeks before we can begin to answer this question because we know that everything takes a little longer now. As we reach some significant points in the construction, I’ll make sure to keep you informed. In one of my future columns, I will introduce you to the scope of work that is being done and what to expect to see when we re-open this area. Everyone is invited to a special Mass for the Jubilee year of the Holy Spirit in the Diocese of Kalamazoo, celebrated at the Cathedral on August 28, the Feast of St. Augustine, at 10:00 am. It’s Picnic Day! Please come and join us this Sunday afternoon, August 22, for our Parish Picnic! Food will be served from 12:30 –2:30 pm in the Stanley Centre. There will be games and other fun events until 3:30 pm. Hope you can attend! Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, This weekend, the Church celebrates the special solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This year, we will have a separate holy day celebration. However, our Sunday celebration recognizes that special day where our Lady was assumed into Heaven both body and soul. The Mother of God, born without sin, would receive a special place in Heaven for the role she accepted to fulfill God’s plan for the salvation of the world. One day, we also hope to be greeted by her when we are able to reach the joys of Heaven. As our seminarians are preparing for another academic year, the Bishop announced where our seminarians will be this year. We will have four in Detroit at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Three seminarians will be at a college seminary program in Minnesota. One additional seminarian will be on a pastoral year. If you have seen photos, or counted up the number of seminarians we have had the past few years studying for the Diocese of Kalamazoo, you may notice that these numbers are up. Please keep these men in your prayers each day and continue your prayers that more will answer the call, perhaps even someone from our own St. Catherine parish community. Finally, we are just one week away from our 2021 Parish Picnic. Please join us for this event next weekend from 12:30 pm until 3:30 pm. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are provided. For more information, contact [email protected]. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, As the Diocese of Kalamazoo celebrated its Golden Anniversary a few weeks ago, Bishop Bradley announced a special Jubilee Year of the Holy Spirit. This special Jubilee Year for our Diocese will begin on the feast of St. Augustine (August 28), the Patron of our Diocese. It will continue through the feast of Pentecost on June 5, 2022. Additional information about this upcoming Jubilee Year and how it can be observed are found on the website for the Diocese (http://diokzoo.org). Just another reminder that for this calendar year, the Feast of the Assumption falls on a Sunday, August 15. This feast day will take the place of the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Please note that registrations for our Children’s Faith Formation program for the Fall have begun and sign up for the 2021-22 year will take place online (http://www.stcatherinesiena.org/cffclasses). Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, It’s August! That means we need to start thinking about another school year (sorry kids). Of course, with last year (and the end of the prior year) being so unusual, all of us are still a little bit unsure what all this is going to mean. For me personally, it means I am starting to form my Fall class for those who are thinking about becoming Catholic (RCIA). Please email me or contact the main office if you or someone you know is interested. It also means that we are taking registrations for our Faith Formation program and Confirmation classes. Information about this can be found in the bulletin. For those who are now looking at your August calendars, you may be wondering if there is a Holy Day this year. Because August 15 falls on a Sunday this year, the Assumption will be celebrated on a weekend. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Did you sign up for Flocknote yet? Hear what Father Mark has to say about our new communication tool and read the rest of Father Mark's letter in this weekend's bulletin by clicking on the article title!

Dear Parishioners, Happy Anniversary! Anniversaries are special times that we celebrate in life where we can look back and see what has happened over the years. As the Diocese of Kalamazoo, we are able to do that this week as we celebrate the day (July 21, 1971} that the Diocese was created 50 years ago. Compared to other dioceses across the United States and even around the world, 50 years is not very long. Our priests are going to be celebrating with Bishop Bradley at a special Mass this coming Wednesday to commemorate this day. Next weekend, there is also a Youth event on Friday night and a special family day that is going to be celebrated (the Jubilee Jamboree} on Saturday. As we celebrate this special anniversary, we thank the Lord for the special blessings that have been showered upon us over the years. Our parish is also having a special celebration this weekend to launch one of our new parish communication and education tools: Flocknote. Please join us this Sunday afternoon in the backyard area of the rectory for ice cream, fun, and games! After over a year of COVID, it will be great to come together and celebrate and have an outdoor parish event! Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, This weekend, I would like to offer a few updates on things that are returning to our schedule. Since we re-opened for in-person Mass last year, we moved Daily Mass into Marian Hall so that everyone could safely distance from one another and accommodate more people for weekend Masses. Even though it is our social hall, it has served us well as a temporary chapel during this time. As things continue to re-open, and if you are planning to attend Daily Mass, we are once again back in Trinity Chapel. So what about Marian Hall? Is it time for donuts? (a frequent question around St. Catherine’s). It now appears we are much closer to starting the renovation/construction project on the kitchen. Everything takes a lot longer these days and we were definitely off to a slow start. Delays seem to be a part of the construction process, no matter when you started. By the time you are reading this, I hope work has begun. With work going on in this portion of the building, we will not be using Marian Hall for a period of time until the work is complete. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, Where were you in 1971? Fifty years ago, our diocese was created and formed from parts of the Diocese of Lansing and Grand Rapids. In July of that year, several other dioceses were created in Michigan (Gaylord and Saginaw). All of us will be celebrating our 50th anniversaries later this month. As the diocese rolls out the plans for this anniversary celebration, we can thank God for the many blessings that the Lord has shown to the faithful of Southwestern Michigan. When our diocese was created, these were the early days after the Council of Vatican II. We were all just learning what it was like to celebrate Mass in English versus Latin. Of course, as part of these 50 years of faith, no one anticipated a shut down due to a pandemic. We see how each one of these 50 years has brought challenges and blessings. As we celebrate the 4th of July, our Independence Day, this is also the final weekend that Fr. Jeff will be on staff at St. Catherine. He will be moving to live at the Cathedral rectory and has already started his work as the Diocesan Director of Worship (the anniversary Mass will be one of his first large diocesan liturgies that he will help plan). Our prayers and thoughts are with you Fr. Jeff as you begin your new ministry. Due to the fact that there are no new priests or missionaries for the Bishop to send us at this time, no additional priests will be assigned to St. Catherine’s at this time. Happy 4th of July! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, It seems like the days of summer always go faster than those in the winter. Here we are, a month past Memorial Day, and at the final weekend of June. Next weekend will of course be a holiday weekend, the 4th of July. This last week of June is also the final week that Fr. Jeff will be living here at St. Catherine’s. Even though he doesn’t officially begin his new ministry as Director of the Office of Worship for the diocese until next week, he has already been planning the upcoming celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Diocese in July (watch for more information on this in the coming weeks). Fr. Jeff will be moving to the Cathedral rectory next week and will continue to be the Hackett Chaplain for the next school year. Please keep Fr. Jeff in your prayers as he begins his new ministry. Due to the upcoming holiday weekend and all the difficulties of gathering in these times, if you want to send or drop off a personal card for Fr. Jeff, we will make sure that he receives it. Just a reminder that at this time, the Bishop does not have another priest to take Fr. Jeff’s place here at St. Catherine’s. This final week of June also wraps up our fiscal year at St. Catherine’s. Thank you for all your support during this year of the Pandemic to both the Parish and the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. Over the next few weeks, we will be working on our year-end reports to turn into the Diocese, and then we will plan to give our annual financial update to the parish community. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, Father’s Day weekend has snuck up on me again. For some reason, it’s always easier to remember Mother’s Day versus Father’s Day. But I know that Fathers still like to be recognized for what they do. My father and I always got along pretty well. In fact, those who remember meeting him or working with him know that we had the same hair style. He was a man of few words, but that always made me listen even more closely to what he had to say. For all our fathers and grandfathers, living and dead, let us pray for them! As you remember your own fathers this weekend, remember to pray for your spiritual fathers as well. We always appreciate all the prayers that are offered for us! Please keep our 2021 Confirmation class in your prayers. Our youth will be going to the Cathedral for Confirmation this next Saturday morning. Happy Father’s Day! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, It’s summer! (Almost). Even though it’s officially a week before Summer begins, and especially since Memorial Day was a few weeks ago, we all consider this to be summer. Even though it’s summer, our staff has been thinking about the programming that we are going to do in the Fall. Since things change pretty quickly (as far as protocols and such), this has been challenging for everyone and is often a moving target! But please be assured that we have not forgotten about the activities and programs that were part of the parish life before COVID-19. As soon as we have these plans in place, we will let you know what our fall programming will look like. As the bulletin goes to press, it looks like we may have a familiar face around St. Catherine’s in the next few weeks. Fr. Peter Gregor was unable to join us last summer, or even during his Christmas break, due to travel restrictions. If all goes well, we are hoping to see him later this week. He certainly missed seeing everyone. Keep him in prayer that his flights and journey to Portage goes well. And finally, I am sad to report that Fr. Jeff will soon be leaving St. Catherine’s. Bishop Bradley has appointed Fr. Jeff as his Master of Ceremonies (for the times that the Bishop is at Mass and diocesan liturgies), and Director of Worship for the Diocese of Kalamazoo. He will also continue to serve as Hackett’s chaplain, as well as working at the Marriage Tribunal at the Diocese. Since a lot of his ministry is now based at the Diocese, the Bishop will be moving Fr. Jeff to live, in residence, at the Cathedral Rectory downtown. Fr Jeff will begin these new assignments on July 5. Our thoughts and prayers are with Fr. Jeff as he prepares to begin this new assignment. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

Dear Parishioners, Congratulations Graduates! I believe all our local high school Kalamazoo/Portage graduations finish this weekend with Hackett’s graduation. It’s been another unusual year with the pandemic and all of you have survived the experience! Our prayers and thoughts are with all of you during this time of transition and we wish you the best in the future. Please also pray for our youth who will be receiving their confirmation at the end of June. Because of the repairs and renovations that have been completed at the Cathedral, and the fact that the Bishop is getting close to retirement, the Bishop is hosting all Confirmations at the Cathedral this year. On a completely different note, our Marian Hall Kitchen Project is still in the works! Much of the monies were donated several years ago and we delayed the project for over a year due to the pandemic. We have been working to get the project restarted and have run into the same delays that everyone else is facing: supply chain problems, obtaining all the necessary permits, etc. All the work has currently been taking place behind the scenes. It will be good to see some work start soon in the kitchen! As the Universal Church celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, this weekend, no matter what problems or difficulties that any of us have faced during this pandemic, we need to remember how the Eucharist is indeed at the center of our life of prayer. We were reminded over and over again that this was how the Apostles and the early Church always encountered Christ. Nothing else we encounter in this world will ever compare. Let us always keep our lives focused and centered on Christ in this way! Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark

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