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Welcome to this week’s Realign Resources for Mission Weekly Update. Happy Feast of Saint Martin of Tours!
As ever, this week we are exploring another of the principles, developed through prayer and study, which underpin the vision for realigning resources for mission across the Diocese of Lansing. Today:
“A healthy parish is led by priests striving for health and holiness with multiple priests serving one parish together,” Realign Resources for Mission Principle 1.3
Read a great article by Father Tim MacDonald. Father MacDonald is the Vicar General of the Diocese of Lansing and the Pastor of Queen of the Miraculous Medal in Jackson. As he explains in his article, Jackson is a place where the clergy are already working together to bring Jesus Christ and His Holy Church to the people of the city.
Watch a short video by Father Jim Rolph, Chaplain to Powers Catholic High School in Flint and member of the Realign Resources for Mission committee. Father Rolph explains why the RRM Committee consider priestly collaboration to be so important to the mission of the Diocese of Lansing.
Pray during this National Vocations Awareness Week that ever more young men and young women across the Diocese of Lansing are open to God’s call to the sacred priesthood and religious life.
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This week’s Realign Resources for Mission Principle:
“A healthy parish is led by priests striving for health and holiness with multiple priests serving one parish together,” Realign Resources for Mission Principle 1.3
With Father Tim MacDonald,
Vicar General of the Diocese of Lansing &
Pastor of Queen of the Miraculous Medal, Jackson.
November 11, 2021
Feast of Saint Martin of Tours
Dear Friend,
Jackson is the smallest urban area in the Diocese of Lansing and it features a very close-knit Catholic Community. St. John the Evangelist (Fr. Chas Canoy, Pastor) is three quarters of a mile from St. Mary Star of the Sea (Fr. Tim Nelson, Pastor) and only two miles from Queen of the Miraculous Medal (Fr. Tim MacDonald, Pastor). The outlier is St Catherine (Fr. Tim Krzyzaniak, Pastor) in Concord, 10 miles to the west. Together, our parishes serve over 3,500 Catholic families. The proposed grouping for Realigning Resources for Mission includes the Polish Community at the St. Joseph Oratory and the Latino Community of Sagrado Corazon located at the St. Stanislaus Oratory.
Currently these parishes are served by four diocesan pastors, the Lumen Christi High School Chaplain (Fr. Brian Lenz) and a retired Oblate of St. Francis de Sales (Fr. Rick Eberle, OSFS). Senior priest and former Jackson St. John pastor, Fr. Jim Shaver, who lives in nearby Leslie, is also a big help to each of us. There are seven active permanent deacons working with us. The Jackson clergy will not find it difficult to grow into the In Solidum model of multiple priests serving one parish together, as we already have an extensive cooperation among our parishes.
St. John and St. Mary work together for Confirmation preparation, youth ministry and some aspects of faith formation. All Jackson County parishes host a regional Confirmation Mass each fall with Bishop Boyea at Our Lady of Fatima in Michigan Center, necessitating that our religious education directors meet regularly and work together closely.
The Jackson area is home to five prisons and our priests and deacons work together to meet the bilingual sacramental needs of Catholics incarcerated here. Our priests also work together to cover the needs of the sick at Henry Ford Allegiance Hospital and to provide the Mass and sacraments at several local nursing homes.
Our parishes and priests join forces in the spring for a regional Divine Mercy Observance, the 24 Hours for the Lord during Lent, a regional Corpus Christi Procession and an Annual Public Rosary Rally in the downtown.
Image from The Chosen, courtesy of Angel Studios
The jewel in our crown is the recently formed Jackson Catholic Schools System, the first of its kind in the Diocese. Joining forces to provide affordable, accessible and excellent parochial school options to all families in our area requires that the priests and principals work together, setting aside the needs of any one parish or school to promote the common good of the whole system.
When one of us is sick or away, he can always call one of the other priests to cover a Mass, a funeral or an anointing. The priests recognize that we are called to serve all God’s people, regardless of their parish affiliation, and including outreach to those who have no parish. The Jackson parishes work closely with Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties to meet the needs of the least among us.
In ways large and small, the priests who serve in Jackson are already working closely together to build up the Kingdom of God by serving one another and our parish collective. Our city is half the size it was 50 years ago and with that comes the harsh realities of parish and school closures. We realize that we are more effective when we are working together for a common purpose.
The proposed Jackson Grouping for RRM will be unique. Three of its four pastors are named Fr. Tim! We plan to grow into the roles expected of us and to be guided by the Bishop, the RRM Implementation Process and, most importantly, by the Holy Spirit of God in becoming an even more effective force for good in the local Church.
Yours in Christ,
Father Tim MacDonald
Watch: Watch this brief video by Father Jim Rolph, Chaplain to Powers Catholic High School and a member of the Realign Resources for Mission Committee. Father Rolph also explores today’s theme: “A healthy parish is led by priests striving for health and holiness with multiple priests serving one parish together,” Realign Resources for Mission Principle 1.3
This Week’s Friday Prayer Intention:
Pray that ever more young men and women from the Diocese of Lansing are open to God’s call to the sacred priesthood and religious life. Amen.
Guidelines for Friday Prayer:
Prayer: At three o’clock each Friday afternoon pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To help with prayer, Eucharistic Adoration from Saint Mary Cathedral in Lansing will be live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook. If you can’t manage to pray at 3pm? Just say the Holy Rosary whenever you can.
Fasting: The present norms for fasting suggest that we eat no more than one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. It is also permissible to attempt a strict fast. A penitent’s age and health should always be taken into consideration before fasting.
Almsgiving: Giving alms is a “work of justice pleasing to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462). Hence, each Friday we should donate money or goods to the poor or perform another act of charity. Let’s not reach sundown on a Friday without having poured out some of the content of our heart or our wallet or both during the day.
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