The Bishop’s Note
Thanks be to God for the lovely weather that He so graciously gave us last week. It has been a particularly bleak winter and the bright sunshine was a great boost for all of us! There might be a Fr. McKenna sighting at St. Gertrude’s the weekend if the weather in Dallas is as bad as they are saying. Texans aren’t used to the snow and ice since they rarely get it, so it really does impact travel down there. The weather is saying that we might get around 5 inches of snow, but they often predict storms that never happen, so don’t let them scare you away from Mass. I am down in Florida where it is a little warmer. God willing, I will be back in time for the feast of our patron, St. Francis de Sales!
I was thinking of all of our Sebastians and Agneses on their feast days and praying for them. Happy belated feast day to each of them! Fr. Brueggemann tells me that his family, who owns a few sheep, had two lambs born on the feast of St. Agnes. How providential is that!
Bishop Nkamuke sent a report from Nigeria. It seems that Fr. Ikhiaemoh has been quite ill and will have to go to Lagos to receive better treatment. Please keep him in your prayers. His Excellency and the Fathers have been doing much to start a new school in one of their missions and have (or will) purchase a piece of land for it. The parents have already taken their kids out of the state schools and are ready to make this hap-pen. Bishop just had his car give out on him and is forced to get a new one. Thanks to some benefactors he has the money to be able to do so. Not much has changed with regard to the persecutions in Nigeria so we must keep up our prayers. God does hear them!
Fr. Martín’s mother died on the feast of St. Agnes, January 21st. Remember her soul in your prayers. Fr. Contreras’ mother is ill as well. While you pray for their mothers, pray also for the priests. It is never easy to lose a mother. Fr. Siordia asked for Confirmations in Cocoyoc this summer. As of now, it looks like there will be long trip to Mexico for Confirmations at the chapels of Fr. Martín, Fr. Siordia, and Fr. Mardones. In November, the yearly trip to Fr. Arnoldo’s chapel in Tijuana and hopefully La Paz. We are hoping to finish planning a trip to India and the Philippines as well. It looks like a busy year for the missions. Deo gratias et Mariae!
Report cards were passed out on Thursday and the school children did a fine job this quarter. It would be nice to hear from time to time how the homeschoolers are doing. I get little snippets of information from the kids every now and again and all seems very positive.
May the Holy Family protect you and yours!
– Bishop McGuire