Pastor’s Corner — August 7th, 2022
My Priest Fraternity
I’m not sure how many people know that I belong to an intentional priest fraternity in our Diocese. Having a shared vision of priesthood, we spend time together and are committed to supporting each other. We actually have a written Rule that expresses this shared vision which is based on a priest fraternity in St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN called the Companions of Christ. Our Lansing version started about eight years ago. Now there are eleven of us priests in this Lansing version of this group. In one way or another, whether in small fraternal groups, or in our large group gatherings, we meet every week.
For the past years since I’ve been here Fr. Joe and Fr. Miguel have been inspired by this fraternity as we meet at St. Pat’s. After discerning for some time with us, I am pleased to announce that Fr. Joe and Fr. Miguel are now members of our fraternity. There are also a significant number of Lansing seminarians interested in joining our fraternity as they become priests. There’s something really powerful about like-minded priests growing together in the bonds of friendship as we follow the Lord together, sharpening each other and growing together as we live out the high calling of the priesthood. I honestly can’t imagine a priest thriving without the support of my solid priest friends.
After a week of retreat with everyone last week (except Fr. Miguel….because someone had to take care of the parish!), I am just writing this to share an encouraging word of what’s happening among the priests in the Diocese. Come, Holy Spirit!
Missionary Appeal This Weekend
Fr. Louis Ekka, who serves in our Diocese in Swartz Creek, is giving this year’s missionary appeal this weekend. The Diocese of Gumla, India where he’s from started in 1993 in the State of Jharkhand with the Catholic population being over a million people. They have 39 parishes and 390 village missions being served by 150 diocesan and 53 religious priests with an additional 380 religious nuns. Fr. Louis presents here some pressing missionary needs:
1. Establishing two more new parishes, each with a new church and rectory. Missions need to be made independent parishes with the resident priests for better pastoral ministry. People are poor and unable to give financial support.
2. Providing the 182 catholic schools (111 Primary, 38 Middle, 33 High Schools) in the missions with better facilities, building, infrastructure, educational and technical tools, text books and workbooks to improve the Catholic Schools. Education is a main means of evangelization and boosting the future prospects of the youth.
3. Covid-19 had a devastating impact in the diocese. It took away the lives of hundreds in our diocese. 15 diocesan priests, 12 religious priests, and 18 religious nuns died of Covid-19. We also lost our dear Bishop Paul Lakra on June 10th, 2021 last year. Many children are orphaned by it. We need funds to rehabilitate the orphaned. We need funds for better health care opportunities for all the priests and nuns. We have no health insurance in the country.
4. Education of more young men in the seminary since the diocese abounds in vocation to the priesthood and religious life, so that more could be sent as missionaries to missions abroad where there is a shortage of priests.
All the above mission projects are 80% dependent on missionary cooperative appeal funds. Due to acute poverty of 65% of the Catholics the diocese depends mostly on foreign funding agencies for the pastoral, educational, medical, and socio-economic emancipation of the marginalized and the poor. Your Christ like intervention and sacrifice of:
• $20 will feed a poor child or an orphan for a month ($200 annually)
• $500 will educate a physically challenged child annually
• $600 will pay the bills for health care and family maintenance of a leprosy patient for a year.
• $900 will proved grocery and feed a poor family of 5 for a year
• $2,000 will sponsor a seminarian for a year
• $6,000 for a home for a family
• $25,000 will build a village chapel
If you want to help the appeal, please write a check to St Pat’s and write Missionary Appeal in the Memo line. We also have online giving set up as well. Go to the “Give” section on our website and select “Missionary Appeal” in the fund section.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias