I hope you will be with us for Mass at Queens every Sunday this Lenten Season as we journey into the desert with Jesus, face our temptations, and use penance, fasting and almsgiving to help us prepare for Holy Week, Easter and Heaven!

This weekend we have two special events.  At the Saturday 5pm Mass the Parish Life Commission is celebrating the World Day of Marriage.  26 couples have signed up to come for a blessing.  They have been married for a total of 1,042 years!  What a testimony to the power of sacramental love in the covenant of marriage?! 

At the Sunday 10:30am Mass, there will be the Rite of Sending for those in the RCIA Program.  This ritual allows those receiving the sacraments to sign the Book of the Elect before they go off to meet Bishop Boyea at the Rite of Election in East Lansing Sunday afternoon.  Queens is blessed with a bumper crop of converts this year.  All told, there will be 15 baptisms at the Easter Vigil, 10 Christians converting to the Catholic faith from other denominations and 7 adults seeking Confirmation to complete their initiation into the Catholic faith.  Pray for the catechumens and candidates as they continue their journey into the Church.  

The Boy Scouts will be at all the Masses this weekend to collect your returnable cans and bottles.  You can leave them inside the church doors when you come to Mass this weekend.  The Scouts are grateful for the support.  

Give alms in Lent 2024 and make a big impact on our community by taking part in the Ladies Guild Blessings for Better Beginnings program.  Your donations will help people through Birthline, the Lyle Torrant Center, The AWARE Shelter, St. Vincent de Paul and the Center for Women.  

See the ad in this week’s bulletin detailing how you can donate new clothing and hygiene items to benefit babies, children and adults all across our community.  Donations of cash and check are also welcome.  There will be bins at the church doors starting February 17th thru March 24th, all the Sundays of Lent.  

The Stations of the Cross will be prayed in the Church on Fridays at 2:15pm with the school children and at 7pm for families.  Note, the school is off Friday February 16 and Friday March 22.  There will be no 2:15pm Stations on those days.    

“We adore you O Christ and we praise you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”  

Join us for the Friday Fish Fries in the Queens School Gym each Friday of Lent:  2/16, 2/23, 3/1, 3/8, 3/15, 3/22.  The Knights offer dine-in, drive thru and takeout options.  Please note: the fish dinners begin at 4:30pm and end at 7:00pm. 

Cor is the Latin word for heart.  The Knights of Columbus Councils across Jackson are sponsoring a new program called COR:  Prayer, Formation & Fraternity for Men.  You don’t have to be a Knight to participate.  COR will begin Saturday, February 17 and meet weekly on Saturdays from 7-8 AM (doors open at 6:30 AM) at St Mary Star Hall (church basement). This is for all men – young, old, single, married, Catholic or not.  You do not have to be a Knight to attend.  COR is free and no pre-registration is required.      

Catholic fathers need to be followers before they can be leaders.  COR aims to help Catholic men of all ages to become more faithful and confident in their knowledge of scripture and church teaching to help them reclaim their role as the spiritual head of the household.  

I also hope many men from Jackson will register for the Diocesan Men’s Conference – Accept the Challenge, Saturday March 16th at the George Gervin GameAbove Event Center at Eastern Michigan University.  The cost is $45 per person.  There is a full schedule from 9am – 5pm and the event ends with a Mass celebrated by the Bishop that counts for Sunday.  Learn more and register using the link below:     

Ms. Merrill will make the soup and the buttered rolls.  I will be presenting on Themes of the ongoing national Eucharistic Revival.  The Simple Suppers will be Wednesday evenings after the 6pm Mass in the Queens School Social Center/Cafeteria.  They begin February 21^st and run through March 20^th: 

2/21 Chicken & Noodles

2/28 Cheeseburger Soup

3/6 Lasagna Soup

3/13 Gnocchi Soup

3/20 Beach Bar Tomato Soup

On the Second Sunday of Lent, February 24-25, you will be invited to make a pledge or one-time gift to support the 2024 Diocesan Services Appeal that helps to fund 100 programs and ministries.  This year’s Theme is from the Old Testament Book of Sirach:  “The offering of the just enriches the altar.”  The Diocese seeks to raise $5,750,000 across the 71 parishes of the Diocese.  Queens goal is $220,214.  Last year, Queens blessed the Diocese with $270,925 in pledges,  the second highest total raised in the Diocese.  It’s always important to meet the goal, but it’s even more important to bring more people onto the team that gets us there.  I will be looking for all the donors to DSA 2023 to come back and I hope that those who can’t remember the last time you made a DSA pledge to please join us this year.  

Saturday March 9, 10am – St. Mary Star of the Sea

Tuesday March 12, 7pm – St. Rita, Clarklake

Thursday March 14, 7pm – Our Lady of Fatima – Michigan Center

Monday March 18, 6:30pm – St. Catherine Laboure – Concord

Tuesday March 19, 7pm – Queen of the Miraculous Medal

Thursday March 21, 7pm – St. John the Evangelist

Dr. Mary Healy from the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit will give two talks at Queens in the Church beginning at 2pm on Sunday March 17^th. This is free and open to the public with a free will offering and a reception to follow.  Mary Healy is the author of several books and a highly sought after speaker.  Talk 1: For Such a Time as This: Christian Witness in a Post-Christian World.  Talk 2: Lost and Found: what the Gospel of Luke reveals about the heart of the Father.  Dr. Healy will have her books for sale and there will be a book signing during the reception.

For those who didn’t see it in last week’s e-mail, I wanted to share with you the results of last year’s diocesan-driven Disciple Maker Index.

This was our second DMI.  Queens had 850 responses in 2020, just before Covid.  In 2023, 1010 surveys were completed at Queens, representing 85% of those attending Mass here during that year.  Queens had the second highest number of responses in the Diocese.  By clicking the link below, you can see a summary of our results and comparisons with the diocese and churches all across the country on key issues.

I’ve also attached a new link with a  report about the overview of the DMI from a diocesan perspective.  

“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