Queens has made a historic multi-year investment to partner with the Hallow App to help bring quality Catholic content and authentic spirituality onto all of your devices and into your life! Founded in 2018 by a Catholic ‘revert’ named Alex Jones. By 2024, Hallow had risen to become the #1 download in the Apple App Store! Hallow offers daily prayers, audio-guided Bible stories, prayers, meditations and Christian music and so much more.

Nearly 100 Queens parishioners already on Hallow indicated interest in having a parish community within Hallow and we are answering that call.

We will kick off the weekend of September 12-13 with our first prayer challenge, which will be using the app to encourage all of our participants and followers to pray for 14 straight days. That will be the first of 6 Hallow prayer challenges we will introduce over the coming months to try to get more people praying more frequently and fervently.

Parishioners who are first time users of the App can sign up that weekend and get 6 months free use of the Hallow App. After that, you can get a 25% discount for the paid subscription content. For those Queens parishioners already subscribing to Hallow, you also can get the 25% discount the next time your subscription is up for renewal.

Having a Queens community within Hallow will allow us to pray with and for each other, for specific intentions that people may choose to share and ask prayers for. It will give us another way to communicate within the parish, especially when there are important upcoming events or sudden changes in the schedule.

Consider signing up for the app and joining us in the prayer challenges on the Hallow Queens Community Page. We will have a table set up after Masses September 12-13 to help you acxess the app and your subscription and to answer any questions you may have.

Parents with children in public school need to enroll them in Sunday Faith Formation. This is mandatory for those seeking 1^st Communion and Confirmation next year.  Sunday School and attending 1 weekend Mass each week are two vital and necessary ways for parents to live out the promise they made when they had their children baptized – to raise them in the practice of the faith.  We offer classes for Pre-K through 8th grade.

Each year, we identify hundreds of school age children in the parish census who are not enrolled in Catholic school or Faith Formation.  Granted, many of these families perhaps do not attend Mass and likely won’t be reading this!  There are predictable outcomes when little or no consistent effort is put into raising children in the faith.  Young families get so wrapped up in sports and recreation that they often lose sight of what matters more.  With the invincibility of youth, some do not look beyond the horizon to see what comes next when this life ends.  Too much of what we spend our time and attention on here on earth is not going to help us get to heaven, and getting to heaven requires some faith and effort on our part.  If a parent had a prized heirloom that was passed down through the family for generations, they would want their children to have it.  This is that treasure.  We hold it in earthen vessels that are passing away.  This treasure is the ability to live a meaningful life in praise of God and in service to His people.

Classes begin THIS Sunday August 30^th. Parents will join their children in the gym for a meeting to start at 10:30. The children will then be dismissed to their classes for a 45 minute shortened class.

To register, contact Betsy Koval at bkoval@queenschurch.com and will assist you. You can also use your smartphone to scan the QR code below or follow the link provided. Classes meet on Sundays from 10:15 to 11:45 in the school. The cost is minimal and financial aid is available for those who demonstrate need.

Have you ever suggested that someone consider the Catholic faith?  No?  Afraid of rejection or ridicule?  I am sure the apostles were also, but the Holy Spirit helped them overcome their fears so they could spread the Gospel message to the ends of the earth.  

I remember being on a city bus outside Florence, Italy in 1998.  On that bus I ran into a Dutch Protestant minister.  By the end of our conversation, I told him that I saw him leaving his church, coming into the Catholic Church and being ordained a priest.  All of that came true a decade later and he now serves Catholic youth in the Netherlands and we stay in touch.  He took Titus as his Confirmation name, so he and I would share the same feast day on January 26^th.  All it took was some boldness and courage to spark up a conversation.  God does the rest.

This is where you come in, and OCIA.  You should be actively seeking people to suggest it to.   OCIA is a program for those who have never been baptized, Christians of other denominations who are thinking of becoming Catholic, and for those who were baptized Catholic but were not raised in the church and did not receive the other sacraments.  The OCIA meets each Wednesday at 6:30pm in the lower level of the parish office. 

Some have said their non-Catholic spouse has attended Mass for years and should be admitted to the faith based on that alone, without having to go through the OCIA process.  The brief homily at each Mass talks mainly about the Scriptures, and not church history or doctrine.  There is so much to learn and know about our religion that is not covered at Mass.  Someone that aspires to be Catholic needs to know these things and should want to learn them.

OCIA Meets Wednesdays at the parish office from 6:30 – 8:15pm. (bkoval@queenschurch.com).  

Children’s Liturgy was slated to start last weekend but we delayed it because we did not have enough volunteers for the 9am and 11am Masses. We still need more adult help. Training materials and lesson plans are provided. This counts as part of Mass for the helper and the children, it is not play time or day care. I always ask that parents and/or grandparents who regularly send children downstairs for this please take a turn leading it. If we had more volunteers no one would have to do it very often. This is a very rewarding ministry and a big help for families with young children. As with eveything else mentioned above, let Betsy Koval know if you can help.

Bishop Boyea welcomes those couples celebrating milestone marriage anniversaries to be his guest for a special Mass coming up on Saturday September 12 at 5pm at St. Patrick Church in Brighton, 711 Rickett Road.  All couples will receive a blessing during Mass and a reception follows in the parish hall.  You can RSVP by visiting www.dioceseoflansing.org/event/anniversary-mass26 or contact Emma Rose Fisher at 517.898.6523, or erfisher@dioceseoflansing.org. 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The family is the domestic church and the foundation of society. It is where future generations are born, educated, and formed, and where vocations to the priesthood and religious life most often take root. So, how can we help our families grow in holiness and happiness?

Beginning this September, I invite you to join me in a Year of the Family.

This new weekly catechetical series, introduced by me, will feature short films showcasing families from across the Diocese of Lansing. Each family will share how they are striving to live the Catholic faith more fully in their daily lives. Throughout the year, the series will explore family prayer, education, liturgical living, hospitality, discipline, and works of charity.

My sincere prayer is that the Year of the Family will encourage and inspire our families to live in ever greater harmony with God and with one another.

To sign up, simply text YOTF to 84576 or subscribe by email.

I am, sincerely yours in Christ,

+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing

Epic: The Early Church explores how the Church that Jesus established and which we read about in the Acts of the Apostles took shape in the early centuries of Christianity. This Bible study meets Tuesday evenings in Vincentian Hall, from September 15 to November 17. If you attended last year’s Bible Timeline, you won’t want to miss this!

Walking With Purpose is excited to begin a new season and all women are invited to participate.  WWP is a faith-sharing community that connects women to God and to each other through table conversations, exploring how scripture relates to our everyday journey.  Our study this season is called Opening Your Heart.  If you are new to WWP, this is an excellent starting point.  We will be incorporating new content, so if you are a returning participant who has experienced this study before, this will be a fresh experience with much to discover.  Come to our kick off event to learn more.

The Opening Your Heart study explores the fundamental questions of our Catholic faith and our relationship with Jesus Christ. Join us as we examine the core questions that we need to wrestle with if we want to experience all that God has in store for us.  Questions like:

• How do I get my priorities in order?

• I’ve been going through the motions in my spirituallife—how does it relate to my day-to-day life?

• How do I get to know Christ in a personal way?

Want to learn more about Walking With Purpose? We are having a Come and See event in Vincentian Hall on Thursday September 10th at 7:00 pm where you can experience a taste of WWP and have your questions answered. This Kick Off Event will be a great opportunity for returning participants to reconnect as well. 

For evening participants, our new season begins Thursday Sept 17th at 7:00 pm and for morning participants we’ll begin Friday September 18th at 10:00 am.

Questions? Contact Anne Fleming at 517-250-7580 or email at annemathias@gmail.com

You can sign up after Mass this weekend or use the link below:

MONDAY 7AM

“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