THE WARMING PROJECT sponsored by the Social Justice Commission is going on now.  Please gather new and gently used winter wear for those struggling to keep warm during the coldest days of Michigan winter.  There are  large bins at each church entrance to receive your donation and envelopes at the ends of the pews for those willing to make a monetary donation that will be used to buy more items to keep Jacksonians warm in these sub zero wind chills.

This Monday marks the 40th day since Christmas and the 4th Joyful mystery of the rosary, the Presentation of the Lord.  In centuries gone by this was called Candlemas Day and it was an opportunity to bless candles used in the Church and for home devotions.  The Presentation Mass begins with a candlelight procession.  We preserve this practice at Queens whenever and wherever possible and we will do so at the 9:00am Monday morning Mass on February 2nd. 

Feel free to join us for Monday morning Mass and bring with you the candles you use in your home devotions.  For the brief procession around the church interior, candles will be provided.  The Presentation of the Lord celebrates the moment when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Jerusalem Temple for the first time.  This feast celebrates Jesus who truly is our Lumen Christi, or the Light of Christ who leads us home to where we will find heaven and happiness. 

This Sunday morning at 10:30, I will conduct a brief candle blessing and candlelit procession with the students in Sunday morning Faith Formation.  This will not interfere with the 11am Mass and it will be concluded well before Mass starts.   Feel free to come early to see the children’s procession inside the church.

Sadly, there was a new outbreak of fraudulent emails being sent in my name Thursday and Friday of this week.  They come from a variety of addresses, none of which are mine.  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

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

First, if I was writing you I would call you by your name, I would never begin with ‘Good day’ nor ask for an exchange of emails with you, and I would not conclude it this way either.

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.

If all else fails, please call the office and ask to speak to me to authenticate any request that seems out of the ordinary.  Don’t spend the money and send what is requested before trying to verify it.  

The only way to make this scam attack stop is for all of us to deprive them of success in their effort to enrich themselves under the false pretenses of pretending to be me asking you for help. 

At the 11am Mass on Sunday February 15th, Queens’ Parish Life Commission will honor those who marked milestone marriage anniversaries in 2025. The Mass and Blessing will be followed by a catered dinner in Vincentian Hall.  Couples who marked a milestone last year need to call the parish office to reserve your spot by this Friday February 6th. 

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. 

Many have asked when the new directory will be ready.  Our staff is in the final stages of design, having spent recent months collecting pictures of parish books and events.  Once it is sent off the publishers, something we hope will happen very soon, they will spend some time making the first draft which we will then review for spelling errors and accuracy before it goes to print.  All of this takes time but we sincerely hope to have the book in your hands sometime this spring.  Thank you for your patience and to all those who showed up to have your picture taken.  Your effort was not wasted!

“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