The Pastor’s Corner — October 9th, 2022
Successful Parish Festival Oktoberfest!
The weather was beautiful. The food, music, and beer were great. (I was told that we went through about 1,000 brats and 400 soft pretzels!) So many families from our parish and school came to celebrate our parish and enjoy the festivities. Special thanks go to Frank Law and the School Dad’s Club who set up and ran the event, Larry Bacon and all of the volunteers, especially the Knights of Columbus, who helped with the raffle tickets. Please see Ryan’s column on Page 12 for the winners of the Shamrock Raffle. God be praised!
Do IRS Guidelines Allow For Us to Preach Against Proposal 3? Absolutely
I recently had a conversation with someone who misunderstood the nature of IRS guidelines for 501(c) (3) non-profits regarding tax exempt status. While we’re not allowed to advocate for particular candidates or engage in partisan campaigns, non-profits like churches are absolutely allowed to advocate for policy positions on non-partisan issues such as ballot initiatives. This is important to know as virtually every Catholic Church in the state is trying to get the word out on the evils of Proposition 3.
2022 Michigan Catholic Women’s Conference Next Weekend
The Michigan Women’s Conference is next Saturday, October 15, 2022 from 9am – 5pm at the Lansing Center. The theme for the 2022 conference is “For Such a Time as This” (from Esther 4:14: “Perhaps you have come to your royal dignity for just such a time as this”) The conference attendees will hear from Teresa Tomeo, Sherri Wohlfert and Fr. Patrick Gonyeau and the day includes music and activities to build up women in Christ. To register go to MichiganCWC.org.
Major Catholic Documentary on Transgenderism Premiering this Weekend
In our increasingly secular filled world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by how confusing and bizarre things are getting in our culture. The wholesale rejection of the Christian worldview in parts of the world make it all the more important that Christian parents and grandparents understand what’s happening in our culture from a Christian perspective. We need this clarity for two basic reasons: 1) When we see cultural realities as God sees them, we are protected from falling into cultural errors that might cause us to compromise our faith by which we and our families are saved. 2) When we understand what’s happening in the world properly from God’s perspective, we can be positioned to bring the light and truth of the gospel to bear for the sake of influencing, informing and transforming of culture.
This weekend a new documentary Dysconnected: The Real Story Behind the Transgender Explosion, is being released by Ignatius Press. Catholic World Report did a great interview with author and filmmaker Don Johnson, who is a Catholic convert, about the making and purpose of this documentary. The interview wonderfully summarizes why this transgender explosion is so dark and problematic and doesn’t help children who are really struggling. Obviously, I haven’t yet seen this documentary. But based on the interview I strongly suggest that parents and grandparents plan on checking it out it when it comes out.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias