When Pope St. John Paul the Great canonized St. Faustina Kowalska in the Jubilee Year 2000, the Second Sunday of Easter was renamed Divine Mercy Sunday in honor of the devotion she popularized prior to her death in Krakow, Poland in 1938.  The image above was the first painting of Jesus as she saw him in her visions.  We will venerate and bless the image of Divine Mercy at all the Masses this weekend.  

Join us for the Regional Deanery-Wide Divine Mercy Observance coming up this Sunday afternoon April 7^th at 2:30pm at the St. Joseph the Worker Oratory, 705 N. Waterloo.  This is not a Mass and doesn’t take the place of the obligation to attend Mass.  It will however include adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Confession, the sung Chaplet and a presentation about this devotion.  If you would like to learn more about Divine Mercy, please visit: www.thedivinemercy.org. 

Those meeting certain conditions may obtain the plenary indulgence for this feast.  The conditions are in the link below.  Keep in mind, the Church has declared that any confession made within 20 days before or after the feast still satisfies the conditions for the annulment.

The Parish Life Commission invites you to join them after ALL the Masses this weekend in Vincentian Hall for Coffee and Donuts.  This will be mainly cookies on Saturday after the 5pm Mass, but they will be serving coffee and donuts after the 7:30, 9, 10:30 and noon Masses this Sunday.  

I asked them to cover all the Masses because Holy Land Wood Carvings will also be in the hall offering their hand crafted olive wood religious items.  The violence between the Israelis and Hamas began on October 7th.  The Christians of Bethlehem are caught in the middle of this conflict and their lives are in danger.  The money raised when their relatives visit American parishes selling their handcrafts makes all the difference in the world when it comes to providing direct assistance for their everyday needs.

These hand carved rosaries and statues made of authentic olive wood from the Holy Land make excellent gifts for upcoming Baptisms, 1st Communions, summer weddings and graduation open houses, Confirmation in the fall, or a gift for a friend.  You might want something for yourself as well.  Please be generous.  They accept cash, check and credit card.  

The DSA allows us to work together to build the Kingdom of God by building up the Church on earth.  As we are closing in on our goal, I want to thank the 440 donors who have gotten us this far!  They represent less than one-third of our registered households.  That means there are nearly 1,100 families in the parish who have not given anything.  Any amount of cash received over goal is split 50/50 between the parish and the Diocese.

All DSA gifts should be sent to the parish office or placed in the offertory at Mass.  Please do not send them directly to Lansing.  We get credited with a gift much quicker when we process it here before sending it up.  Checks should be made payable to ‘Queens/DSA.’  Those who wish to pay by credit card can make a secure online donation in a variety of ways – go to the parish website (queenschurch.com), the diocesan website (dioceseoflansing.org/dsa), or follow the link below.  On pledge cards, if you identify a credit card gift, you will still be asked for your e-mail and the DSA office of the Catholic Foundation will send you a link to enter your credit card information securely online. 

This is the Queens DSA Report as of April 5

Pledges:  $201,827.86 (92% of Goal:  $220,214)

Distance to Goal:  $18,386.14

Number of donors:  440 (28% parish participation)

Join us in the Church at Queens at 7:00pm on Tuesday April 16^th as we host a Candlelight Vigil for the Victims of Violence sponsored by the Office of that Jackson County Prosecutor.  There will be songs, prayers and meditations in the Church during the candlelight vigil, and then a reception in Vincentian Hall hosted by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Ladies of the Queens Women’s Guild.  Random and often criminal acts of violence are on the rise all across the country and our community is not immune to these misdeeds that make everyone feel less safe to move about freely.  This event is free and open to the public.  The candles will be provided. 

This is occurring in advance of National Victims’ Rights Awareness Week, coming up April 21-27.

Join us in the the Church here at Queens at 3pm on Sunday April 28th when the Let it Shine Children’s Choir performs “Life of the Party: The Story of Martha and Mary.”  There are sets, costumes and fun for the whole family. This is a free event, no tickets or reservations are needed.  a Free will offering will be collected at the door.  The kids have worked long and hard with Carol Hatch and Anne Fleming to prepare this for you and I hope that many will come and support them and enjoy the program they have prepared for us.  

“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

Queen of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church

606 S. Wisner St.  Jackson, Michigan 49203

(517) 783-2748  www.queenschurch.com