We wish the Lumen Christi Girls Varsity Basketball Team all the best as they take on Pewamo-Westphalia in the MHSAA State Finals at the Breslin Center at 4pm this Saturday the 21st. I will be hearing confessions and getting ready for the 5pm Mass but I hope those who are able will head up to campus to support these ladies who have had a remarakable season! We will welcome the Lumen Boys Varsity Baseball Team this Sunday at the 11am Mass as they kick off their season.

It is not too late to donate toward the Lumen Christi Spring Break Mission Trip to St. Ann’s Parish in Jamaica. You can use the link below to donate. Click below, then click on ‘fund.’ After entering your contact information, you will see ‘gift type,’ scroll down and click ‘restricted’ and then you can enter ‘Jamaica’ and the amount you wish to give. On behalf of the student missionaries, their chaperones and the parishioners of St. Ann Parish, ‘THANK YOU!’

When I write these emails, I am splicing and dicing, cutting and pasting notes from many different sources and groups who are asking for publicity for their events. All too often, in my haste I make a mistake. This was a doozie! The pre-ordered meats from the Jerome Country Market are to be picked up TOMORROW, Saturday March 21, 10am – noon at the rectory garage, not Sunday as I erroneously announced last week. My apologies for the confusion.

2/3 of the diocese’s operating budget is covered by DSA contributions. More than 100 programs and ministries receive vital support from your gift to this appeal. Among these programs are seminary formation, Catholic Charities, jail and prison ministry, the televised Outreach Mass and mailing you Faith Magazine each month without you having to pay for it.

QUEENS PLEDGE TOTALS AS OF 3/19/26:

2026 QMM DSA GOAL: $211,856

AMOUNT PLEDGED: $121,356 (57% OF GOAL)

REMAINING TO GOAL: $90,500

NUMBER OF DONORS: 217 (13.5% OF 1,600 FAMILIES)

AVERAGE GIFT: $559

DSA envelopes can be found in the church lobbies. One is also included in the DSA edition of Faith Magazine. A recurring gift option is available to make things simpler for those who are regular supporters of DSA. Checks should be made payable to ‘Queens/DSA’ and put in the offertory or dropped off/sent to the parish office. Please do not send them directly to the Diocese. Every gift is tax deductible.

As of March 20, 407 Queens parishioners have taken the 10 minutes required to complete the Disciple Maker Index or DMI. That number represents about 30% of our weekly mass count.

The survey link remains open throughout all of March. The data is most useful when the same number of people complete it, so comparisons can be made with the information collected in 2020 and 2023. There were 716 responses in 2020 and 923 in 2023.

The DMI is a diocesan wide online survey that helps 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. The survey link is below. The QR code can be scanned in the bulletin. It can also be accessed on our website. Paper copies are available at the parish office.

Love something? Hate something? We don’t know unless you tell us!

The 5th Sunday of Lent has traditionally been called “Passion Sunday,” and the statues of the Church are covered for the remainder of Lent. Why?

From the Office of Worship at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: The veiling of crosses and images is a sort of “fasting” from sacred depictions which represent the paschal glory of our salvation. Just as the Lenten fast concludes with the Paschal feast, so too, our fasting from the cross culminates in an adoration of the holy wood on which the sacrifice of Calvary was offered for our sins. Likewise, a fasting from the glorious images of the mysteries of faith and the saints in glory, culminates on Easter with a renewed appreciation of the glorious victory won by Christ, risen from the tomb to win for us eternal life.

And this from the St. John Seminary in Boston:

The last two weeks in the season of Lent are called Passiontide which begins on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. This is when the Church shifts her focus from Christ in the desert (the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent) to Christ during His Passion.

During this period of Passiontide, you may have noticed in your parish that the crucifix and other statues and images around the church have been veiled with a purple cloth.

In the Roman Missal we find the instruction, “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from [the fifth] Sunday [of Lent] may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”

The practice of veiling images alerts us that something is different, it can be startling at first, but the last two weeks of Lent are a time of immediate preparation for the celebration of the Sacred Triduum. The veils are hard to miss and they serve as a reminder to get ready!

The veiled images build within us a longing for Easter Sunday. The veils seem out of place, and even counterintuitive. It can seem strange that the crucifix is covered up during Passiontide. Through this absence of images, our senses are heightened and we become more aware of what is missing. Similarly, the suppression of the Alleluia during Lent effectively demonstrates that we are in exile from our true Home, where the angels sing Alleluia without ceasing.

When images are unveiled before the Easter Vigil, we are reminded that we, in a sense, live in a veiled world. It is through our own death that we are able to see our true home, and the veil is lifted. Christ lifts the veil through His Resurrection.

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26

I am in the confessional on Saturday afternoons from 3:30 until the start of the 5pm Mass.  There are no Confessions on Saturday April 4th, as there is also no 5pm Mass that evening, only the vigil at 9pm.

Every other year spring break falls during Holy Week which makes it more challenging to recruit volunteers for set up, serving and clean up. This is one of those years. If you will be in town Easter weekend, please consider signing up to help.

Food Needed for Easter Dinner – Look for Food Tags at Masses this weekend! The tags will provide instructions and specify the type of food.

The Community-Wide Easter Dinner takes place in the Queens Social Center at 2 p.m. on Easter Sunday. Members of our parish community are being asked to support this function by supplying a salad, dessert, or canned vegetables. The food may be store-bought or home-made.  Please select a food tag from one of the display boards at each church entrance.

Important Note:  The dinner volunteers would greatly appreciate it if most food donations are dropped off on Holy Saturday.  If you supply canned goods, they must be delivered to the school cafeteria on Holy Saturday.  If necessary, food may be dropped off on Easter Sunday.  Specific delivery times on both days are outlined on the tags.

If you know of someone who will be spending Easter alone, please contact the Guest Director (517-474-9621.) to obtain an invitation for the dinner.

Invitation to Musicians: Individuals interested in contributing their musical talents to entertain dinner guests are encouraged to contact the Volunteer Director at 517-414-4438.

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. 

Palm Sunday Masses next weekend March 27-28 will occur at their regularly scheduled times. Weather permitting, we will gather on the Carlton porch and patio to bless the palms and process into the Church.

For all those traveling on Spring Break during Holy Week, travel is not a reasonable excuse for not following the rules for fasting on Good Friday (less food for those ages 14-59) and abstinence (no meat).

Since we reduced from 4 Sunday Masses to 3 in the summer of 2024, it became obvious we will not fit everyone who attends on Easter Sunday. Due to longer Masses and the need to reduce parking lot congestion, we are using an old schedule that we brought back to life last year and it seemed to work: 7am, 8:30am, 10:30am and 12:30pm. Do whatever you have to do to remember this and take note of it as NONE of the Easter Masses are occurring at their regularly scheduled time.

Thanks to Chef William Harvey and the Lumen Christi Kitchen, the Knights of Council 609 will be baking 1000’s of cinnamon rolls this weekend and offering them for sale to raise funds for Camp St. Francis on the Lake in Jerome, a summer camp for youth and adults with special needs.

The Knights will also be selling handmade crosses by local artist Ed Thayer who lives just blocks from here. The crosses are $40 each and made out of heavy steel rebar. The proceeds also go to the Camp to support the important work they do. You can see Ed’s inspiring work here as one of the crosses visited my office earlier in the week:

Scout Troop 424 will be having a fundraiser sale of garden mulch bags following all Masses next Sunday. Measure your garden and pick one of 5 colors!  They will be taking pre-orders at the parking lot entrance or you can order on line using the link below. Orders will be picked up Saturday 4/11 12-5PM at Middle School at Parkside.

The Scouts thank you for your continued support!  Even though they are not chartered at Queens anymore, they still help park cars at Christmas, pick up Christmas trees after the holidays, and several scouts are members of the parish.

“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