FIRST COMMUNION SUNDAY:  This Sunday 41 children from Queens School, Faith Formation and the homeschool community will celebrate their First Holy Communion.  Please pray for them as we congratulate them on reaching this important sacramental milestone.  I hope they never lose sight of the great gift given to us in the Eucharist and that their youthful excitement in the presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament may serve as an inspiration to bring others back to the altar who are falling or fallen away from the practice of the faith. 

EUCHARISTIC ETIQUETTE:  Perhaps First Communion Sunday is as good a time as any to address some issues regarding our presence at Mass and preparation for it, as receiving Jesus in his flesh and blood is so much more important than anything else we do during the course of our lives or during our time here on earth.  It is quite simply a taste of heaven and the hope of things yet to come. 

There is a fast before receiving Holy Communion, although it is much, much shorter than it used to be.  Ever wonder why the first meal of the day is called ‘breakfast’?  It’s literally breaking the fast after people fasted all night before they went to Mass and received the Eucharist.  This was to prepare themselves physically to receive our Eucharistic Lord and truly hunger for him.

The current rule for fasting is no food or drink (other than water) an hour prior to receiving Communion, not an hour before Mass as thought by many.  This actually works in your favor. Chewing gum during Mass IS breaking the fast for Communion.  I see an awful lot of this in Church.  The Mass has been called the wedding feast of the lamb.  You wouldn’t show up to your wedding banquet chewing gum.  Why the Lord’s?  Arriving to Mass chronically late and without good reason, leaving early chronically without good reason?  Patterns of behavior develop along the lines of what our priorities are.  If something is important to us, we make the necessary changes, even those involving sacrifice and inconvenience, reflecting that importance in the decisions we make. 

Once we ‘rekindle our sense of Eucharistic amazement,’ to use some of the last words ever written by Pope Saint John Paul II, we don’t let anything or anyone get in the way or making a worthy communion.  Once again, congratulations to our Queens First Communion Class of 2026!

The recently founded Christ Child Society of South Central Michigan is a non-profit providing backpacks filled with essential items to be given to women in Jackson who lack resources as they welcome their new little one into the world. The children of Queens parish have helped to pack and prepare these bags and will present them at the altar on Mother’s Day.

If you are looking for the perfect Mother’s Day Gift, you can make a donation in honor of your mother or grandmother to the Christ Child Society. You will receive an invitation to a special Mass honoring all mothers and grandmothers to be held here on Saturday July 25th at 8am.

There are envelopes in the pews and tables at the doors to drop off your donation, pick up your donation card and to find out more by talking with a member of the society. If you are not prepared to give this week, please stop and get a card and you can donate next week or on line using the link below.

Queens Young Adult Coordinator Gen Hernandez will be speaking at all the Masses this weekend to garner support for the growing Jackson young adult group known as Tim 4:12. This has really taken off in the last year, but could become so much more if they had the resources to match their enthusiasm.

This group is creating and sustaining a vibrant and faithful community of young adults in Jackson; inspiring and encouraging life-giving vocations, lifting one another up in prayer, being a force of positive change in our community, and bringing our Catholic faith into every stage of life.

They are excited to begin even more outreach this year! Plus, a big goal of the group is to attend the 2027 SEEK Conference. The conference, hosted by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), is a 5 day event where thousands of Catholics come together to encounter Christ through prayer, Adoration, the sacraments, and inspiring speakers. Help our young adults to reach their goal of attending!  You can make a secure online donation now using the link below.  Just scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.

This event has sold many fewer tickets than they anticipated and they need to fill the seats to raise enough money to finish their project. Please donate using the link below even if you can’t attend the Friday evening game.

The St. Joseph Shrine, a Catholic historic landmark in the Irish Hills is seeking to raise significant funds to repair and restore their beautiful outdoor stations of the cross that wind down behind the church toward Iron Lake. Fr. Zac Mabee, their pastor, and the tallest priest of the diocese has come up with a unique way to raise this money. You will have to come and see it for yourself. Fr. Joe Krupp will call the game with me at his side providing color commentary. That alone should be worth the price of admission! Use the link below to reserve your seats:

QUEENS PLEDGE TOTALS AS OF 5/1/26:

2026 QMM DSA PLEDGES: $243,771

110% OF GOAL, OVER BY $31,915

NUMBER OF DONORS: 466 (29% OF 1,603 FAMILIES)

AVERAGE GIFT: $523

If you are a previous DSA supporter who has yet to record a gift for 2026 please get on board today using the link below or one of the envelopes at the church doors.

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.

Please note – some people who already made a DSA gift received a letter from the Catholic Foundation asking for your DSA gift. This does not mean they did not record your pledge commitment, it has more to do with lag time in entering all the more recent gifts into the database. If you received one of these letters, my apologies!

To those who have already made their gift to the DSA, please take a minute to watch the Bishop’s message of gratitude by clicking below . . .

“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