Whether you’re rooting for the Seahawks or Patriots in this Sunday’s Super Bowl, please remember to participate in the SOUPer Bowl of Caring right here at Queens.  I am sorry for the short notice.  We do this every year, but it kind of snuck up on me on the heels of the Warming Project.

Please bring canned soups with you to Mass this weekend and leave them in the lobbies as you enter.  The food pantries are running low as the need for food is ever increasing in our community.  Your consistent donations to support St. Vincent de Paul and the Jackson Community Food Pantry are vital to their ability to continue to meet the needs of the hungry in Jackson.   

THE WARMING PROJECT sponsored by the Social Justice Commission was a great success. Above you can see how many bags were filled with your donations before being split between St. Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Charities Linen Closet.  The bins can still be found at the doors as you come to Mass this weekend if you have yet to make your donation.  Cash and checks made payable to Queens can be put in the collection with ‘warming project’ clearly indicated. 

On behalf of everyone who stands to benefit from your generosity, ‘thank you!’  

This Sunday is your last chance for coffee and donuts in Vincentian Hall before Lent. It won’t happen again until after Easter!  All are welcome.  Our thanks to the Parish Life Commission for hosting.

Wednesday February 11 is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of Prayer for the Sick.  I use that as an annual opportunity to offer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick who any Catholic who feels they are suffering and in need of healing and strength.  This will take place at the regularly scheduled 6pm Mass that evening.   I ask that those attending that Mass sit every other pew from front to back so I can pass through the empty row to anoint people at their seat instead of having people line up.  Here are some pointers about this sacrament and who should seek it: 

Anointing of the Sick is a Sacrament of Healing which gives one grace as strengthening, and peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that are associated with disease, illness and/or dying. This Sacrament, formerly known as Last Rites or Extreme Unction is administered to bring spiritual, emotional, and even physical strength and healing to persons who are suffering from any type of illness or facing death. As one of the Sacraments of Healing, it conveys God’s grace into the anointed person through the power of the Holy Spirit. Along with the grace for healing, this Sacrament brings forgiveness of sins. Therefore only a priest can administer Anointing of the Sick.

In the Imitation of Christ’s “Compassion In the Gospels”, Christ’s great compassion toward the sick is expressed in the miraculous healings he performs, which heal the entire person, both body and soul. Parables such as the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:29-37) and the Judgment of the Nations (Mt. 25:31-46) urge Christ’s followers to share his ministry of compassion and healing and to imitate his “preferential love for the sick” and all who suffer.

Anointing of the Sick is the sacrament that is received by those who are ill or suffering. By the sacred anointing and the prayer of the priest, the whole Church commends those who are sick to Christ. The sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gifts of strength, faith, peace and courage, and his or her suffering is united with the suffering of Christ, for the building up of the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1520-23). Anointing of the Sick can be given to anyone who is in extreme danger of dying, one who is advanced in age, is suffering from a serious illness including any type of mental illness or addiction, or prior to undergoing any type of major surgery (for example requiring anesthesia). It can be given more than once in a person’s lifetime (source:  havenofmercycatholic.org/anointingofthesick).

Several people every day are still reporting fraudulent email activity in my name.  Again, please look to see who actually sent the email and what email address it came from.   I have one email address:  frtim@queenschurch.com. The only other address I connect with you online should be the group messaging service that sends out this weekly communication to the whole parish. 

The recent messages came from email addresses such as

pastorfather344@gmail.com

rfather066@gmail.com

fawrav987@gmail.com

Here is how one of those messages was worded:

Good Day,

I hope you are doing well. When you have a moment, I would appreciate the opportunity to exchange a few emails, as there is something I would value discussing with you—entirely at your convenience.

May God bless you abundantly, keep you close to His heart, and fill your life with His divine light, peace, and joy.

With prayers for serenity and happiness,
Fr. Timothy MacDonald
Pastor

Don’t open the message or respond to it, and under no circumstances spend any money.  Credit card companies will not reimburse you.  The scammers are going to ask you to buy prepaid gift cards or credit cards, take photos of the numbers on the back and send those pictures to them. 

Text messages give you an option ‘report as junk’ and so do emails.  If you click on the address, sometimes your email server allows you to report these contacts as junk, spam or phishing and to report it, and even to block the contact.  You should do this to help create a digital trail that leads back to the culprits who are trying to cheat innocent people out of their hard earned money.

ASH WEDNESDAY is February 18th.  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.  As we prepare, here again 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.

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. 

LENTEN OFFERINGS:  As always, you are encouraged to give something up or take something up during Lent to further your spiritual discipline and progress. 

The Magnificat Lenten Companion will be available on Ash Wednesday with simple daily devotions for you and your family. 

Each Lent, we have Friday Knights of Columbus Fish dinners in the cafeteria and gym from 4:30 – 7pm followed by Stations of the Cross. 

There will be Lenten Soup Suppers after 6pm Mass (meaning 6:45ish) on the Wednesdays from February 25 through March 18. 

The Queens Regional Lenten Penance Service will be at 7:00pm on Tuesday March 24th with ten priests present.  

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.  Queens has had one of the highest rate of returns all across the diocese on the two previous samples and I hope that trend will continue this time around.

THE DIOCESAN SERVICES APPEAL is also coming up in Lent.  The 2026 DSA theme is “What we give is what we have from the Lord” (1 Chronicles 29:14).  The diocese needs to raise nearly $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 some, the first time in all my years here that has happened.  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 gives last year gives again and at the same level, we should have no problem surpassing our goal.

“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