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Bulletin Letter
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My Dearest Parishioners,
1. This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. The celebration of this Feast was transferred from Ascension Thursday to this Sunday. As Jesus was ascending into heaven, he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high, then they were to go throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth proclaiming the Gospel. The word Catholic means “Universal” which means we belong to a universal church that was and continues to be empowered by the Risen Lord as he pours out the Holy Spirit upon us. Pope Francis is the visible sign of and leader of our universal Catholic faith. There are nine days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday and during those days the disciples were at prayer with our Blessed Mother Mary for the power of the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them so that they had power to go out to the entire world proclaiming the Gospel. This is the foundation for the tradition of having novenas for nine days for various occasions. For example, in our parish we have a Divine Mercy Novena and also a Holy Spirit Novena.
2. This coming Thursday our Eighth Grade Class from our St. Maria Goretti Catholic Grade School will have their Graduation Mass at 6:00 pm. We congratulate them for achieving this great milestone with assurances of our prayers as they begin the next stage in their journey of life as growing disciples of the Lord Jesus as members of his body, the Church. Gratitude is given to your parents for their love, support and many sacrifices they made so that you could attend our excellent St. Maria Goretti School. We also thank all of your teachers and our staff for teaching, leading and guiding you to achieve this goal as disciples of the Lord. Congratulations!
3. We are continuing the process of interviewing candidates who applied through the Office of the Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Fort Worth as the new principal for our SMG Catholic Grade School. I assure you that we desire to stay the course and find the best person we can to replace Mrs. Laura Behee and want to do this as soon as we can. Please continue to keep this process in your prayers so that the person the Lord wants is chosen.
4. I want to spend this month on being here with you and not on my transfer as I am so blessed being here with all of you. For those who did not receive the Flocknote I sent or did not hear the announcement last weekend, I would like to let you know that I recently received a phone call from the Provincial of our Third Order Regular Province of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Joe Lehman, T.O.R., stating that he needs to transfer me from our blessed parish of St. Maria Goretti. Accordingly, on June 7, 2021, I will be transferred to Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.
I am happy to inform you that our Provincial Fr. Joe has assigned Fr. Mike Ciski, T.O.R., who has a great love for our parish and school, to be our next Pastor. Fr. Jim Mormon, T.O.R. will become the Associate Pastor. Fr. Mike will officially begin as Pastor on June 1 and Fr. Jim will begin on July 1. At the proposal made by Fr. Joe, Bishop Olson has officially made these assignments.
Many of your will remember Fr. Jim Mormon, T.O.R. because he was stationed here at St. Maria Goretti from 2004 to 2008. Fr. Jim is currently doing pastoral ministry at a parish in Toledo, Ohio and will arrive here at the beginning of July. Other friars will assist Fr. Mike in the interim. Our parish will be greatly blessed with Fr. Mike and Fr. Jim serving as your pastoral leaders.
June 5 and 6 will be the last weekend that I will be here with you and I will then be able to express my deep appreciation for the privilege of being with you for these last three years. Because of you, our blessed and wonderful parishioners, our parish is greatly blessed and will continue to be a thriving parish.
5. Please continue to spread the good news of our excellent St. Maria Goretti Catholic School with family and friends with school aged children. Personally, invite them to call the school office to schedule a personal tour to learn more about our school. You are our best advertisement and we appreciate your help and support.
Be assured of my love and prayers,
Father Jim Angert, T.O.R.