At this weekend’s Masses we will watch Bishop Boyea’s message encouraging our faithful and prayerful participation in the support of this year’s Diocesan Services Appeal. 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’s 2026 DSA goal is $211,856.  Last year, it was $220,214 and we took in pledges and gifts totaling $249,139. Half of that overage came back to us as a rebate.

DSA envelopes will be at all the church doors as you go out this weekend, or you will receive one 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.

“What we give is what we have from the Lord” (1 Chronicles 29:14).  The theme for this year’s appeal makes a good point.  Everything we have is a gift from the Lord.  What do we give Him in gratitude for all that He has given to us?  Our support of the parish, Catholic schools, the diocese and other charities are ways that we can pay forward to others what we cannot repay to God. 

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 in 2026, we should have no problem surpassing our goal. 

So far, 241 Queens parishioners have taken the 10-15 minutes required to complete the Disciple Maker Index or DMI. 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 so we have a hill to climb before the survey link is closed on Tuesday March 31st.

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. Paper copies are available at the parish office.

“Sometimes even Catholics have lost or never had the chance to experience Christ personally: not Christ as a mere ‘paradigm’ or ‘value’ but as the living Lord, ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’ (Jn 14:6)”.
Saint John Paul II, Ad Limina Visit to the United States, March 1993, # 2

“The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch, but also in communion and intimacy, with Jesus Christ.” 
General Directory for Catechesis, # 80

“The sacrament of confirmation strengthens the baptized and obliges them more firmly to be witnesses of Christ by word and deed and to spread and defend the faith.  It imprints a character, enriches by the gift of the Holy Spirit the baptized continuing on the path of Christian initiation, and binds them more perfectly to the Church.”
Code of Canon Law 879

“The Christian’s vocation is to follow Christ, passing through the waters of Baptism, receiving the seal of Confirmation and becoming part of his Body through the Eucharist. “So the Holy Spirit comes, fire after water, and you are baked into the bread which is the body of Christ.”

Saint Augustine, Sermon 227   

This event is free but we do take a free will offering to defray our expenses in hosting the event.  If you missed the first two talks, audio versions have been posted on our website.

This year we have been reflecting on the Eucharist and the Mass. Each week has concluded with some inspiring video clips. I am going to share them here for those who missed it or who would like to watch again:

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

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. 

You can also pray the Stations of the Cross on Friday afternoons at 2:15pm with the students of Queens School on March 6, 13 and 20.

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.

Head to the Airport Rd Meijer next Saturday March 7. You can use one of the cards featured above found at the church doors or pick one up in the checkout aisle. You donate $10 toward the St. Vincent de Paul Pantry and Meijer’s is featuring a double match that day. This is a great way to work with a vital community partner in stacking our pantry shelves where we run a daily operation to feed Jackson’s hungry.

At the Masses this weekend, Lumen Christi students will be collecting donations to help fund their upcoming spring break mission trip to Jamaica. This trip is always an eye-opener for participants, letting them see first hand the genuine struggle of people for whom every day is a battle for sustenance and dignity.

Here is a message from Queens parishioner who is funding his own mission as part of FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students) at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant:

Greetings from Central Michigan University, My name is Ethan Semenchuk alumni of Queens parish and now I serve as a FOCUS missionary at CMU. As Focus missionaries our whole goal is to encounter students where they are and help them come to know the person of Jesus Christ and develop a personal relationship with Him. One of the major ways we do this is through hosting small group bible studies on campus and off campus hosting retreats. At the end of March we have our spring retreat called “The Father’s House.” This retreat walks through the story of the prodigal son and how no matter what stage we are at in life God the Father is there looking for us to come home, come home to a place a peace and live our life with our identity being rooted in being a beloved son or daughter of our Father.

To make this happen though we need your help, a one time gift between $100-500 will go to making sure this retreat is able to be pulled off. It will help us get all of the retreat pamphlets, help cover food for the week, help pay for facility rentals and most importantly make this retreat as cheap as possible for our students to attend. If you are interested in helping us make this retreat a possibility you can do so through the link below.  Click the button that says donate to campus. Any gift is greatly appreciated!

I challenge any parishioner who is a CMU alumnus to make a gift or to make it in memory of someone you know and love who was a Chippewa.  I will make a gift in honor of my late mother Rose Ann who was a proud CMU graduate, finishing her degree in 1989 after she raised all 6 of her kids.  

FOCUS is making a difference.  Hundreds of their missionaries nationwide as well as the students they work with have gone on to discern vocations in the Church while even more have married and are raising large Catholic families.  Sadly, FOCUS is not currently active on any of our large university campuses in the Diocese of Lansing.  We must pray that changes very soon.  Best wishes Ethan!    

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.

“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