THE WORLD DAY OF MARRIAGE is celebrated in the Catholic Church on the Sunday closest to Valentine’s Day.  We are marking the occasion at Queens with the Sunday 11am Mass celebrating Milestone Marriage Anniversaries.  We honor and salute all those couples in the parish who celebrated milestones in 2025.  You are a much-needed example and witness to a world that increasingly does not know the meaning and value of the words covenant and commitment. 

In 1970, when Catholics made up a much smaller part of the U.S. population, there were 426,309 Catholic weddings in America that year.  In 2022, there were 98,354.  That is an almost 75% decline in just over 50 years.  Catholics now account for 20% of the population, but fewer than 7% of the weddings that happen in the USA occur between two Catholics in a Catholic Church.  One last sobering statistic, U.S. Catholics make up 6% of the global Catholic population, and yet 75% of the annulments granted in the Catholic Church are granted in the United States.  Hopefully pastors, parents, teachers and catechists can work together to help our young people understand the mysteries and miracles of marriage and family life (statistics sources:  New Oxford Review and ‘What God Has Joined Together: The Annulment Crisis in American Catholicism’ by Robert H. Vasoli). 

The Boy Scouts of Pack 424 will be at the doors this weekend to collect your returnable cans and bottles to raise funds for their events and activities. Let them save you a trip to the store while you support these young people who do so much good in the community.

ASH WEDNESDAY is February 18^th.  Queens will have Ash Wednesday Masses at 6:45am, 9am and 5:30pm. There is a brief service for Ashes only at 12:15pm that day. The much sought after QMM ‘repent and be faithful’ wristbands will be available on Ash Wednesday as will free copies of the Magnificat Lenten Companion.

As we prepare to begin our Lenten pilgrimage through the desert toward the mysteries of Holy Week and Easter, here are the rules for the Lenten fast as compiled by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org):

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics.  In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.  For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59.  When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

Those who must take food with medicine should do so.  Those who become ill or faint when fasting should be mindful of their condition when planning the menu for days of fasting. 

To summarize – even though there are age limits governing those who need to fast (which means eating less), there is no such limit on abstinence (not eating meat).  On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, we seek to do both – eat less and don’t eat meat.  Every Friday of Lent is a day of abstinence where we don’t eat the meat – thus the fish fry.  There is no medical excuse for people not being able to abstain from meat.  Those who must take food with medicine should do so.  Those who become ill or faint when fasting should be mindful of their condition when planning the menu for days of fasting.   

Please support the Knights of Columbus Friday Fish Dinners in the Queens School cafeteria.  Dine-in, drive thru and take out are available each Lenten Friday from 4:30 – 7:00pm, with the exception of Good Friday April 3^rd.  Each week, you are invited to come over to the Church after the fish fry to join us in praying the Stations of the Cross so together we can walk with Jesus on his lonesome road to Calvary. 

There will be Lenten Soup Suppers after 6pm Mass (meaning 6:45ish) on the Wednesdays from February 25 through March 18 in the school cafeteria.  Even though Janet Merrill is no longer making Queens School lunches, she is still willing to cook the homemade soups and buttered rolls for which these suppers are so sought after.  Here is the schedule:

Theme:  The Eucharist – the Source and Summit of our Faith

Feb 25:  The Real Presence (Lasagna Soup)

Mar 4:  The Mass as Sacrifice and Banquet (Chicken Gnocchi Soup)

Mar 11:  Eucharistic Adoration and personal prayer (Minestrone Soup)

Mar 18: Being Eucharistic Ambassadors who are sent to serve (Cheeseburger soup)

This event is free but we do take a free will offering to defray our expenses in hosting the event. 

Here is a listing of the Lenten Regional Penance Services across the Jackson Deanery:

Our Lady of Fatima, Thursday March 12, 7pm

St. Mary, Saturday March 14, 10am

St. John, Thursday March 19, 7pm

St. Rita, Monday March 23, 7pm

Queens, Tuesday March 24, 7pm

I am in the confessional most Saturday afternoons from 3:30 until the start of the 5pm Mass. 

This Lent I am asking you to consider making a donation in support of the robust Catholic ministry taking place each week in all the Jackson prisons and now also in the county jail. Hundreds of bibles have been distributed along with other materials to support the ministry, all thanks to your generosity. The priests, deacons and laity involved in restorative justice ministry are carrying the light of Christ into there places where it is so badly needed and so greatly appreciated.

THE DISCIPLE MAKER INDEX is returning to the Diocese this Lent.  We took this online survey in 2020 and 2023 to help our leaders understand the needs, beliefs and practices of those who attend Mass and participate in parish life.  This information is helpful to our Bishop and his staff and also to us when we are determining priorities and programs and where we should devote our resources.  It doesn’t take long to complete and is very easy to do.  Watch for the survey link to go live soon!

THE DIOCESAN SERVICES APPEAL theme for 2026 is “What we give is what we have from the Lord” (1 Chronicles 29:14).  The diocese needs to raise $6,000,000 through the DSA to cover two-thirds of its operating budget and provide vital support to more than 100 programs and ministries.  Due to a new formula for goal calculation, the Queens goal has actually gone down.  The parish goal is $211,856.  Last year, our goal was $220,214 and we took in pledges and gifts totaling $249,139.   While it is always my hope to attract new givers to the parish and to the diocese, it remains true that if everyone who gave last year gives again and at the same level, we should have no problem surpassing our goal.  We will watch the DSA video with a message from Bishop Boyea and start soliciting your gifts and pledges on the weekend of March 7-8.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching” (Heb 13:8-9).

Fr. Tim MacDonald

Pastor