Dear Parish Family,
The Church has had a long-standing tradition of observing May as a month in which the faithful especially honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our hurting and divided world needs the intercession of Our Lady, Queen of Peace. Consider praying the holy rosary with your family, even if it is just onedecade before or after meals.
If you are new to the rosary, consider the following plan for this month of Mary. If you pray one decade of the rosary Monday through Friday, you can complete one set of mysteries each of the four weeks of May: beginning May 4 for the Joyful Mysteries, May 11 for the Luminous Mysteries, May 18 for the Sorrowful Mysteries, and May 25 for the Glorious Mysteries. On our website, we will have a link to a beginner’s guide to the rosary.
There is actually a small group of parishioners who pray the holy rosary daily! Please consider joining them to honor Our Lady some time this month. They pray the rosary at 8:00 a.m. on weekdays (Mon, Wed, and Fri at St. John Church and Tues, Thurs, and Sat at St. Joseph Oratory) and at 7:25 a.m. at St. John Church on Sundays. Our school children will also have a May Crowning during the 9:00 a.m. School Mass on May 8.
We are proud to announce that St. John the Evangelist Parish will be receiving another deacon on Saturday, May 16! Our parishioner, Mr. David Etters, will be ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Lansing at 10:30 a.m. that day at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing. He will celebrate his first time as a deacon of our parish on the following day, May 17. We will have a reception for him in our parish center after the 10:00 a.m. Mass, so that we may congratulate him on this great occasion!
On the following Pentecost Sunday, May 24, a priest with whom many of you are familiar, Fr. Mathias Thelen, will be here for a Pentecost Healing Service at 6:00 p.m. Since I will be away on vacation that weekend, he will also be celebrating the 4:15 p.m. Mass on Saturday and the 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Masses that Sunday, preaching on the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Finally, this Wednesday is our second of three faith formation nights on “How Does God Reveal Himself to Us?” You do not need to have been to the first one to enjoy and learn from this second session. Our topic will be a general introduction to the Bible, so bring your questions you’ve always had regarding the Sacred Scriptures! See you at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the parish center!
Easter season blessings,
Fr. Chas