Pastor in Missouri
A big thank you to Fr. Rogers Byambassa (OSF chaplain),
Fr. John Pham (parochial vicar at St. Mary), Fr. Dustin Schultz (pastor at St. Patrick of Merna) and Msgr. Doug Hennessy (our pastor emeritus) for covering Masses October 7-14. I am visiting a great friend from seminary days. He is a pastor in the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO (where my old spiritual director is bishop). I will catch up with my brother priest, pray a lot, read, golf, walk, have a good dinner each evening, and watch some MLB playoff baseball. Time away is necessary for us to see the bigger picture, and then make healthy adjustments to our lives. Expedia’s 24th Annual Vacation Deprivation Report showed that Americans take the least vacation of 11 industrialized nations. This may be connected to another peculiarly American fact: the average household carries an $8,674 credit card debt. “The cemetery is full of indispensable people.” God alone is indispensable.
Registering with Your Parish
The younger generation (40s and younger) tends not to register at a parish. I especially notice this when someone wants a baptism or wedding: they do not belong to a parish; instead, they freewheel and float. A pastor’s aim is to get them planted, anchored and growing within a parish family. If you are a permanent resident (not a college student) in Bloomington-Normal and have not yet registered at Holy Trinity or Historic Saint Patrick, please contact Jen Lonergan in our parish office to do so. Welcome!
A Point Worth Pondering
The normal and organic way of growing a parish? Holy conceptions by husband and wife. I read this sentence in the past week: “We take pills, have surgeries, and use technological devices to help maladies and cure disease. That’s a good use of medicine. Is fertility a disease?”
Change in Weekday Schedule
Our one-priest situation necessitates some changes to our weekday schedule beginning October 14. Daily Mass times remain in place. Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions remain in place Tuesdays at Saint Patrick (4:15 to 5:00 PM) and Fridays at Holy Trinity (7:00 to 7:45 AM) but will not be available on other weekdays. Instead, the Rosary will be prayed at 7:15 AM at Holy Trinity on Mondays and Wednesdays, and at 4:30 PM on Thursdays at Saint Patrick. Per this revised schedule, each parish will have Eucharistic Adoration once a week and Confessions twice a week, plus have the Rosary. And remember: Jesus always abides in the tabernacle!
~Fr Loftus