Pastor’s Corner — February 9th, 2025
St Pat’s Marriage Comedy Event on Saturday April 5: Registration Open!
Our Marriage Ministry is hosting a night out for all married and engaged couples in the parish on April 5, 2025 beginning at 6pm. This is an opportunity for couples to take time out of their busy schedules to spend time together in community-–building relationships with other couples in the parish, enjoying a meal together, and celebrating the importance of sacramental marriage in the Church.
The night will feature Catholic comedian Shayne Smith, who is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about comedians, not for his face tattoos and checkered past, but for his talent of marrying his Catholic faith with his unique ability to make people laugh. He’s popular among my priest fraternity as well. In a recent Fox News interview, Shayne shares his thoughts on why so many comedians seem to be embracing their Catholic faith. I also love that in his conversion story he shares that he had a mystical experience of Our Lady that drew him to the Catholic faith. It’s a beautiful example of how the Lord can work to change hearts, even in the most unexpected moments and circumstances.
Tickets will likely sell out fast. If you’re married or engaged and want to see more from Shayne, share a meal with other couples in the parish, and celebrate marriage, get your tickets to the Marriage Night here. I hope to see you there!
2025 Jubilee Year of Hope
Did you know that the entire Catholic Church is celebrating a unique graced-year called a Jubilee in 2025? With the exception of extraordinary ones, these Jubilee years only happen in the Church every twenty-five years. There’s a lot of information about the Jubilee Year, holy doors, and special indulgences on the internet. Here is a great little article, Twenty-Five Things to Know About the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.
The Diocese of Lansing has put together a Jubilee Year website that contains information about the indulgences offered in this year. Below are the Diocesan Events for the Jubilee Year from this website:
Corpus Christi Procession to the Cathedral
At 10am on June 21, 2025, Bishop Boyea will offer Mass at Jackson Field (home of the Lansing Lugnuts) and will then lead a procession with the Blessed Sacrament from Jackson Field to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception where the Jubilee Indulgence can be obtained by completing the praying of the Marian Rosary.
40 Hours of Eucharistic Adoration Leading up to Corpus Christ
From the Sunday of Pentecost to the day of the Corpus Christi Procession in Lansing on June 21st, each parish in every Deanery of the Diocese of Lansing, each in turn, will host 40 Hours of Eucharistic Adoration for the intention of bringing the Gospel of Hope to the world. This golden thread of parish throughout the Diocese of Lansing will culminate in a tapestry glory paraded through the streets of Lansing: Christ’s Real Presence in His Body and Blood!
Abstaining from Media on Fridays of the Year
On the Fridays of the Year, the Diocese of Lansing is encouraging the faithful to enter into the spirit of penance—and entering into a weekly opportunity of gaining the Jubilee Year indulgence—by abstaining from media (outside of that which is necessary for work or schooling). As Angelo Cardinal De Donatis explains, the “Jubilee Plenary Indulgence can also be obtained through initiatives that put into practice, in a concrete and generous way, the spirit of penance which is, in a sense, the soul of the Jubilee. In particular the penitential nature of Friday can be rediscovered through abstaining, in a spirit of penance, at least for one day of the week from futile distractions—real but also virtual distractions, for example, the use of the media and/or social networks” (Apostolic Penitentiary, Decree on the Granting of Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025).
Places of Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Lansing
Bishop Boyea has designated the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Lansing as the place for pilgrimage in the Diocese of Lansing.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias