Greetings ~ I hope you're enjoying the summer days! I want to share some good things we're working on while the pandemic has turned our usual plans upside-down.
A couple weeks ago, I had a fruitful meeting with the new city manager, Craig Cugini. I was encouraged by his desire to address various housing problems in Ishpeming. I expressed a willingness for our Parishes to help, and he suggested we assist homeowners who are low-income, elderly, disabled, or single head of household with minor children who are in need of exterior improvements or interior accessibility repairs. I then met with Deeana at Habitat for Humanity in Marquette, and think we can establish a fruitful partnership with them. So far, we have a couple projects lined up to work on next Thursday, July 19th, beginning at 9:15am. If you're in need of help to keep your house or yard in good and safe condition, please call the parish office, or email me at [email protected].
Craig also informed me of 70 bikes in the basement of the Ishpeming Police Department found abandoned over the past couple years. Wednesday, the City Council approved giving them to us. Next week, we'll move them to the St. John's convent garage. I have a high school student and adult who will get as many of them working as possible. Then, hopefully in August, we'll have a Community Bike Sale for anyone who wants to come.
Tomorrow, July 11th, is the Memorial of St. Benedict, who founded numerous monasteries in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire. His efforts began a movement which preserved the best of Western civilization through the so-called Dark Ages. He wrote a Rule for monks that focused on manual labor, prayer, study, community, poverty, and hospitality. Bishop Robert Barron with Word on Fire ministries just released an hour-long film about St. Benedict's life and legacy. It's very inspiring. You can watch it here for free through tomorrow!
I'll be speaking about St. Benedict as part of my homily this weekend in our preaching series about the Dignity of Work. If you've missed the past two weekend homilies, you can listen to them here. If you find them enriching, please share them with others!
Some of you, I'm sure, watched the Disney+ debut of the musical Hamilton last weekend. Deacon Greg Kandra has written an insightful article here about Hamilton's faith and the spiritual themes in the musical. Give it a read!
If you're looking for a great way to engage your children with spiritual reading, check out Voyage Comics and Publishing. They publish entertaining comic books for kids that pack a spiritual punch, and they're not very expensive to order. I've found students really enjoy them!
I enjoyed this article by Jenny Uebbing yesterday. If you've been feeling angry about everything going on lately, I think it's a good read for your soul.
The Care Clinic housed at St. John's convent has resumed in-person mentoring sessions for mothers and/or fathers with children of all ages. They also hope to be open on Mondays and Tuesdays for drop-ins and are in need of volunteer receptionists those days. If you want to volunteer, please call Wendy at 228-CARE.
Finally, we continue to ask you to wear a mask during Mass. I know it's been hot, but it's a small sacrifice to make in order to to ensure the safety of all who come. I don't want people not to come to Mass because they're afraid people aren't wearing masks. If you occasionally need to loosen your mask below your nose to breathe more easily, that’s alright. And remember during July and August I'm adding a 7:00am Sunday Mass at St. Joseph Parish for those who want to get up early and start the day and avoid any larger crowd.
God bless you all!
Father Ryan