Recent Articles By Fr. Lehtoranta, including a new article on Conditional Baptism
The Bishop’s Note
August, September, and October have always been my favorite months because of the weather, the return of the school children, and the Feast Days that occur on the liturgical calendar. This week, for instance, we have some of our most popular saints—the Curè d’Ars and his miracle worker/ friend, St. Philomena; St. Lawrence; St. Clare, who is the patron of television because of her heavenly vision of the Mass while she was cooped up in her cell during an illness. Of course, next week is one of the best Marian feasts, her Assumption. September and October are filled with days dedicated to Our Lady. Truly, “of Mary there can never be enough!”
We are hashing out the details for the fast-approaching seminary year. It is a little challenging to find the perfect balance in scheduling because of the three hour time difference. All the clergy will have to sacrifice something in order to make this work, but I am very confident that this can be done. I am not sure if it has been mentioned before, but we have four seminarians at this point. Two of them have already completed one year of study while two more are just starting out. It is a good start to things, I would say. We do need priests even more now. The older generation has done so much good over the years; we know this from the fruits of their labors. It was always an uphill battle for them as they found their way through the changes of Vatican II, and the errors of the SSPX, among other things. And now a new generation of laity and priests have come along, the missions have grown, and our parishes have grown in size. All this is thanks to the many laborious years that clergy like Bishop Dolan, Fr. Cekada, and Bishop Sanborn have dedicated to the apostolate. Now it is our turn to carry the torch and to imitate the zeal of the generations of clergy and laity that have come before us. It will be no easy task, but one which the grace of God will help us all to carry out.
Speaking of growth, have you seen our yard lately! Bob and Becky Uhlenbrock have been taking superb care of our cloister gardens. A big thanks to them! But the outdoor Stations are not looking so hot right now, the Fatima shrine is almost overtaken by the tall Rose of Sharons and the Lamb’s Ears, the rose bushes did not survive the strange weather that we had earlier this year, and the Lourdes shrine is sort of “weedy,” as is the garden in back of church, and the evergreen trees have overtaken the sidewalk up to the rectory. It is a lot of work, and much is taken care of by the crew who comes to mow the lawn every other week or so, but still, any help would be most appreciated.
I think we are getting somewhere with the plans for the addition to the rectory. The “official plans” are being drawn up now and then we will need to get the city’s approval. It never has made much sense to me that the city/township approval should be needed to build on one’s own property, but it is what it is. Once things are approved we will need to raise some funds to complete the project. Fundraising is not something we clergy ever look forward to doing because we know that the people are already so generous, but it is necessary. Please pray that we can finish this important matter soon. I truly believe that, once this is done and the Sisters have their own home, the Oblates of the Holy Face will begin to grow. As it stands, the sisters have to live at their families’ homes. This seems to be working temporarily, but it can never work for those young ladies who do not live so close to the church.
Enjoy these last weeks of the summer months. Keep the feast days and come to an extra Mass to thank God for, well…everything! May Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart bring you much consolation and peace!
– Bishop McGuire