May 18, 2025

Dear Sacred Heart & St. Mary on the Lake,

It is a blessing having Paul Keenan here for his internship. As things have gotten busier for me, I haven’t been able to lead a Bible Study this year. Thankfully, Paul will be leading one

this summer – June 11 th /12 th through July 9 th /10 th . It will follow our usual schedule of Wednesday nights at Sacred Heart at 6pm and Thursday mornings at St. Mary on the Lake at 10am. I remember well leading a series on my internship summer at St. Anthony’s back in 2012. It will be both a great blessing for us and a good experience for Paul as he leads the study.

House Blessings: While we do house blessings at all times throughout the year, the summer is especially well suited for it. If you haven’t had your house blessed and you would like it blessed, please let me know. Besides blessings being a good thing in themselves, it is a great way for me to get to know our families better. Plus, our seminarian Paul will come along so he can get to know more of our parishioners. I have often had it where several nearby families will have their houses blessed together which is also a lot of fun. (I believe my current record stands at nine neighboring houses in one outing, but I am

happy to try and beat it!)

Totus Tuus: I encourage you to sign up for Totus Tuus if you haven’t done so yet. We have a good group but with some spots still left. We will be opening it up to the neighboring parishes so we won’t necessarily be able to then guarantee you a spot. It will be the week of June 22-27 th . If you haven’t caught the fliers for it, Totus Tuus has a mission to inspire in young people a true longing for holiness, a deep desire for daily conversion, and an openness to their vocation by the constant challenge to give themselves entirely to Christ through Mary and by continually strengthening their prayer lives in imitation of her. To lead these summer camps, Totus Tuus calls upon college students and seminarians from across the United States to carry this mission to every young person they encounter. These young men and women are hired for

their energy, enthusiasm, love of the Faith, commitment to spiritual growth, ability to work with a team and a desire to work with youth. This will be a great opportunity for our families!

For our Graduates: Congratulations on your graduation! For those who are going the route of college I want to bring this resource to your attention: https://newmanministry.com/. Newman Connection helps students continue their faith journey in college by connecting them with a Catholic community on campus, so their faith thrives in college and beyond. We are in a battle for souls. The next generation of believers feels lost and disconnected from a Church that should be their home. Many young people and churchgoers struggle to find a place where they feel truly needed and known. Without an authentic community, they drift away, leaving their faith behind. Newman Ministry stands in this gap, determined to bring them back—into faith, into community, and into purpose.

God Bless!

Fr. Todd