Fr. Todd Bulletin Article 10/11/26

Dear St. Mary on the Lake and Sacred Heart

            I will be gone Oct 16-23, so starting this coming Friday.  The majority of this will be for my annual priest retreat as a part of my spiritual direction program through the Institute of Priest Formation.  (I will have one more session in February to complete the three-year program.  We meet at Mundelein Seminary in northern Illinois).  I am adding a couple of days to the retreat window so I can visit Alex Cziezsperger, our parish seminarian, along with all of our Diocesan seminarians studying with him.  He is currently studying at St. John Vianney College seminary in St. Paul, MN.  I will be halfway there when I am Mundelein so this works great. 

This year we have 31 seminarians at various seminaries.  We have 15 seminarians at St. John Vianney College Seminary, 14 studying at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, and 2 studying at the North American College in Rome.  I will certainly pass on your well wishes to Alex and the seminarians when I am there.  Thank you for all of your continued prayers for an increase in vocations!  I will be praying for you on my time of retreat- please pray for me.

October is respect life month.  It is a month where we as a Church focus on supporting life at all stages- the unborn, those with disabilities, the aging, the poor.  We are blessed with many local initiatives in this regard- Helping Hands, Catholic Charities, our local food pantries, Share the warmth, ministry to the homebound, just to name a few.  A great reminder that if we ourselves are not currently on the front lines in a particular way that we can support those who are.

In that vein I wanted to include this invitation from Bridget Vogel.  “I was previously at your parish as a Totus Tuus missionary in 2025. Your parish was an absolute delight to work with. In fact, it was one of my team's favorite weeks of the summer.  I am continuing to do mission work in the pro-life movement with the organization Protect Life Michigan. Our mission is to work to change public opinion on Abortion.  (I must attest to her joy, faith, and love.  Hers will be a great voice to meet people on such a sensitive topic in a meaningful way to understand how choosing life is not only the right option but also possible).  In order to do this work, I need spiritual and financial partnerships with mission minded people like you If you are interested in learning more about my mission and partnering with us, I'd love to take you out for a cup of coffee and share how you can get involved. Don't hesitate to email me or text me at 517-940-1359. Please know of my prayers for your parish!”

God Bless,  Fr. Todd