Due to the unpredictability surrounding the weather this weekend, we decided to postpone the Milestone Marriage Anniversary Celebration sponsored by the Parish Life Commission scheduled for the 5pm Mass tonight and a dinner afterwards.  The couples who RSVP’d have been informed.  They will be honored at the 11am Mass NEXT Sunday instead.  Therefore, it is now not too late if you are having a milestone anniversary but did not sign up, call the office and let us know.  

The weekend Masses will go on despite the challenges we may face outdoors.  

For one reason or another, there are plenty of adult Catholics who never received the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Confirmation completes our initiation into the faith after baptism and 1st Communion.  Those who are not confirmed are missing an important gift that God wants all of us to have – the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

If you have been baptized in the Catholic Church and made your 1st Communion but never got Confirmed, we can help you.  Queens will host an 8-week Adult Confirmation Class on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 – 8pm at the parish office, starting THIS Tuesday February 18th. 

This class is free and open to everyone.  If you are not Confirmed and want to fix that, contact our Director of Faith Formation and RCIA/OCIA, Mrs. Betsy Koval:  517.783.2748, bkoval@queenschurch.com. 

THE DIOCESAN SERVICES APPEAL begins next weekend.  DSA accounts for 2/3 of the diocesan operating budget and funds 100 programs and ministries that are vital to the ongoing work of the church across the Diocese.  The parish goals have been frozen this year to account for the overlap with the capital campaign.  We are seeking to raise just over $220,000 to help the Diocese reach its goal of $5,750,000.

Your donations to the Diocesan Services Appeal assist in the production of the televised Outreach Mass from St. Thomas Aquinas in East Lansing, something many of our seniors depend on as they are unable to get to church and perhaps not tech savvy when it comes to watching the livestream online.  DSA subsidizes Faith Magazine so you don’t have to pay for a subscription.  DSA also pays for the seminary education of our future priests.  Thanks to ongoing support from DSA, the Diocese has an ordination class of 7 this year, the largest class of newly ordained priests in well over 30 years.  Your donations make waves when we put out together into the deep water for a great catch for the glory of God! 

We surpassed our goal last year by more than $70,000!  If everyone who supported DSA in 2024 gives again, we should easily reach our goal.  More to come . . .

FRANKI MOSCATO IN CONCERT:  The Jackson Youth Group wishes to invite ALL Catholics and Christians to Lumen Christi at 6:00pm on Sunday February 23^rd for a free inspirational talk and concert with nationally known singer and speaker Franki Moscato, a Wisconsin native and former contestant on TV’s American Idol in 2019, making it through to the Hollywood rounds.

Franki’s message is about the need for kindness in a world so filled with hate.  Franki uses her contemporary Christian music to spread a Gospel message of love to anyone who will listen.  Bring the whole family and join us on Sunday evening February 23^rd at 6:30pm at Lumen Christi to celebrate the love, peace and kindness that Jesus has given to us and urges us to share with one another. This event is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations necessary.  Invite your non-Catholic family, friends, neighbors and co-workers! 

From her website, www.frankijo.com:

A passionate advocate for those struggling with mental health, Moscato has used her platform to raise awareness for adolescent suicide prevention. Since the age of eleven, she has dedicated herself to advocating for young people in need of hope, and at 19, she founded the Franki Moscato Foundation to support Wisconsin youth battling mental health challenges. Moscato demonstrated her love for children by volunteering as a pediatric musical therapist at two area hospitals. She also performed at bedsides at the Sunrise Children’s Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Franki Moscato Foundation headquarters is in a commercial space in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where her signature “BE KIND” message, that can be seen everywhere, is on merchandise, in schools, and at youth organizations—and it serves to spread the word, raise awareness of this decaying etiquette, and earn proceeds to help strapped families, schools, and state-wide youth organizations fight teen suicide.

Franki’s faith remains at the center of her work, and she continually uses her voice to bring hope and healing to others.

A free will offering will be collected to help the youth group as they raise money to attend summer camps and conferences.  

The Catholic Church has had a ministry presence in the prisons of Jackson for decades.  It has been much harder to gain a foothold in the county jail.  Thanks to the persistence of the diocese and our deacons, there is now weekly Catholic ministry for those incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail. 

These men will also benefit from donations made to the Prison Bible Fund.  People were so generous when I asked before so I am renewing my request.  Your donations have paid for hundreds of bibles and other reading materials so we can help these men who have fallen on hard times to get right with God, make amends for their crimes and aspire to return to society as productive citizens.   

ASH WEDNESDAY is March 5^th.  Start planning ahead for your Lenten fast and abstinence and what kind of penitential and spiritual practices you will work on during the 40 days leading up to Holy Week and Easter.  Queens will have ashes at 6:45am Mass, the 9am School Mass, ‘Ashes Only’ at 12:05, and 5:30pm (no holy hour that day).  To plan, here again are the church’s rules for fasting on Ash Wednesday:

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. 

“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