Fr. Todd 2/1/26

Dear Sacred Heart and St. Mary on the Lake,

            I will be gone this week (Mon-Fri) for my conference with the Institute of Priestly Formation.  As usual I will be out at Mundelein Seminary in Northern Illinois.  We will have our usual Masses throughout this week while I am gone. Now some random things:

DMI- Discipleship Maker Index Survey:  This will be the third time the Diocese has asked our parishioners to take this survey to get a sense of the parishes and what we can do better to help serve our mission.  Bishop Boyea will be turning 75 this spring which is the retirement age for Bishops.  He will send his letter into the Pope who will decide when to accept.  It could be accepted right away which means we could potentially have a new Bishop very soon or it could be accepted in a year or two.  But Bishop Boyea wants to use the DMI survey to help build a transition document for whomever the new Bishop will be so he has a nice sense of the Diocese.  The survey will be able to be taken online or in a paper version.  It will be released mid-February and I thank you for your participation when it comes online.

Sacred Heart Church Air Conditioning:  It is with great joy (and some irony as it is currently single digits) that I can announce through the generosity of several families we are moving forward with the Air Conditioning project at Sacred Heart.  We are working on getting estimates with several companies and hoping to have it installed in time for summer!  I know there are more people who wanted to support the AC project.  Any money given toward the AC that goes over the final cost of installation will be put into a fund for ongoing operation/maintenance.

Fr. Kusi Cobona: Fr. Kusi is currently the pastor of St. James in Mason.  He will be retiring this coming summer and will be moving into the rectory at St. Mary on the Lake July 1^st.  Fr. Kusi is a good, holy priest and I am so grateful and excited to have in residence at St. Mary on the Lake.  He will slowly start moving in over the coming months in preparation for July 1^st.  (He loves golfing so he will be in paradise down here!).

Candles:  We are getting votive candles for St. Mary on the Lake that people will be able to light for particular intentions.  The stand will be by the sanctuary. 

At Sacred Heart I was able to find a glass globe for our hanging sanctuary light.  Soon it will be painted red, the traditional color for the sanctuary candle.  (You may have noticed already how much better the candle is burning).        

God Bless,

Fr. Todd