Greetings Faithful Parishioners in Christ,
I recently received an invitation to attend the 150th anniversary celebration of St. Wenseslaus Parish in Tabor that is on this Saturday evening. I was there substituting on weekends for their pastor Fr. Dan Moris for over one year after he suffered a tramatic car crash. It triggered his PTSD. As far as I know, he is a senior (medical retirement) due to this condition. Please pray for him. Since then, I have had a close parish family bond with the faithful people in Tabor, Lesterville, and Sigel. We welcome and thank Fr. David Axtmann forsubstituting for me this weekend on short notice.
I have a busy October. Unfortunately, I need to be gone for three weeks this month.
- I will be gone for our diocese’s annual Clergy Days Monday, October 4 th through Thursday, October 7th .
- I will be on vacation pheasant hunting in the Eden area October 16 - 21. Fr. Ken Lulf requested to pulpit switch with me so he will be here the weekend of October 16-17.
- I will have my annual priest retreat at Broom Tree October 25 - 28. I usually do this in June to decrease my time away in October, but I was too busy with the process of moving.
- I can be available on an emergency basis by you contacting Beverly Thomas while I am away.
At Clergy Days every year we celebrate clerical anniversaries in our diocese. This year they will be celebrating my 25th priesthood ordination anniversary. You might say a prayer for me this Wednesday, October 6, 2021. I will be preaching in front of Bishop DeGrood and almost all of the priest and deacons in our diocese! High school youth disciples have asked me to have a Holy Hour open to all faithful people that fitstheirschedule and my schedule. We will have Holy Hours on the third and fourth Mondays of the month whenever I am here. It will be at 7:00 p.m. followed by a daily Mass at 8:00 p.m. The first dates that will work are November 15 & 22. I will offer confession opportunities during these Holy Hours as usual.
We are launching Formed.org as an online resource that offers the very best Catholic content from more than 60 organizations to help parishes, families and individuals of all ages to explore their faith anywhere. Supporting thousands of movies, children’s programs, ebooks, audio, parish programs and studies direct to your browser, mobile or connected device (laptops, tablets, smart TV's, etc.). Check it out now by going to Formed.org, select “sign up,” select sign up as a parishioner,” find our parish by typing “57442” or use either parish name (our parish names had to be combined so that we could save money by having just one account), create a new account and start roaming around! Formed.org has thousands of movies for you to stream, but if you prefer the old fashioned way, you can go see the new movie “Show Me the Father” at the Lyric Theatre in Faulkton this Sunday evening October 3 in Faulkton. This movie is produced by the film makers of Courageous, Fireproof, War Room, and more. Another way of expanding you Faith horizons is to attend Days of Recollection, retreats, etc. More on this later. Consider seeing Archbishop Robert Carlson November 3rd 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Broom Tree (broom-tree.org)!