5.26.23
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Good afternoon and happy Memorial of Saint Philip Neri!
This weekend, we celebrate Pentecost (don't forget to wear red). Please join me in praying that we will welcome, and even be surprised by, the power of the Holy Spirit, who gives us everything we need to live lives of holiness and virtue. And please join me in praying for the four men who will be ordained to the priesthood tomorrow morning.
I am grateful for the awesome turnout at Monday's Outdoor Mass & Picnic and for the many ways the people of Good Shepherd helped me celebrate 10 years of priesthood. I am grateful, too, for the touching way the school students honored me after our last all-school Mass. I am truly blessed to have served as pastor here.
Please read below for information about some great things coming our way.
Be of good cheer,
Father Marquard
OPERATION PASTOR NOVUS
Father Ben Wittnebel begins his time at Good Shepherd this July. We are working to make his entry as smooth and fruitful as possible. This is a community-wide effort, meaning that all of us have a role to play — staff, volunteers, school families, and parishioners. Here are four ways for you to play your part.
1. PRAY DAILY FOR FATHER BEN AND GOOD SHEPHERD
This time of transition is a time to lean into God’s grace. We will need it. Father Ben will need it. So, we may as well be intentional about asking for it in prayer. You can do your part now by committing to pray for Good Shepherd and for Father Ben daily until he arrives. This could mean offering recited prayers, Mass attendance, penitential acts, spontaneous prayers, adoration time, or a mixture of all these things across each week. The encouragement is to intentionally and clearly offer these prayers for us and for him.
2. INCREASE YOUR REGULAR GIVING TO GOOD SHEPHERD
Relevant statistics tell us that parishes should expect a five percent drop in giving at the change of a pastor. Well, let’s not let Good Shepherd be a statistic. Instead, let’s increase our regular giving. This will be good for Good Shepherd and super encouraging for Father Ben. Please take a few minutes today and increase your regular giving to Good Shepherd. This is especially important for those who haven’t done so in a year or more. If all our households increased giving by just $5 per week ($260 per year) we’d increase our annual income by roughly $100,000.
If you give by check or cash, you can simply increase your amount. If you give electronically, please click “Give Online” at www.goodshepherdgv.org/giving, sign into your account, and make your changes.
3. INVITE FATHER BEN TO DINNER
All our initial dates for pre-planned dinner parties are filled. Thanks to your generosity, Father Ben will enjoy at least 12 welcome dinners during his first six weeks at Good Shepherd. This will put him in front of 30 or more households in a brief time. This is an amazing display of our awesome community.
Just because those dinners are filled does not mean you can’t host him. It just means you’ll have to work a little harder. Please invite Father Ben to your house for dinner sometime during his first six months. And if you can’t do that, then aim for sometime during his first year.
If you want to meet Father Ben during a simple gathering at Good Shepherd, join us for a wine & cheese social for adults on Wednesday, August 16. Call the parish office for details or sign up here.
4. CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SPIRITUAL BOUQUET
In order to surround Father Ben in prayer when he arrives, we’re putting together a spiritual bouquet. This is a collection of all the prayers we intend to pray for him throughout the month. We want each person here to contribute something like: “I will offer five Our Fathers every day,” or “I will abstain from meat on Wednesdays,” or “I will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day.” You get the point. We’ll present this spiritual bouquet to Father Ben when he arrives. To make your contribution, click here or fill out a spiritual bouquet card in the gathering space.
SENDING OFF FATHER MARQUARD
Help us celebrate Father Marquard as he prepares to depart Good Shepherd after being with us for the last eight years! We hope you can join us for one (or more) of the events below:
Saturday, June 10 + 4:00pm Mass & Cookies
Join us for cookies and lemonade in the social hall after Mass. No registration required.
Sunday, June 11 + 8:30am Mass & Cereal Bar
Join us after the 8:30 a.m. Mass for a variety of breakfast cereals. We’ll enjoy all of Father Marquard's favorites! Last time we had a cereal bar, he ate seven bowls. You’ll want to see him in action. No registration required.
Sunday, June 11 + 10:30am Mass & Taco Bar
Can you say taco bar? Join us in our larger parish celebration after the 10:30am Mass. Registration is requested for this event. We will be outdoors if the weather permits. Please bring a lawn chair! Please register here or by calling the parish office.
Some people have asked about gifts for Father Marquard. The easiest and most convenient for him would be cash or Amazon cards that he can put toward his move and getting settled in West Saint Paul.
Join us in praying for Father Luke Marquard as he takes on his new assignment at the Church of Saint Joseph in West Saint Paul.
Lord Jesus, eternal priest, bestow on Father Marquard the fullness of your perfection and strength. Remember that he has forsaken all things to give himself entirely to you. In his hours of loneliness and discouragement be close to him, that he may not fail in his sacred duties. Bless his labors with abundant fruit for souls. May all his contacts with others bring them and him closer to your divine heart.
Give him a sympathetic and understanding heart that he may restore peace and bring consolation to those who have fallen into sin. Give him a generous heart that he may share the sorrows and sufferings of others and be forgetful of his own. Give him a strong heart that he may be ever pure in the midst of a sinful world. Keep always holy his anointed hands, which are privileged to touch your sacred Body, that they may never work to your dishonor. May his lips, which touch your Precious Blood, never be the instrument of sin.
And if ever, Lord, through weakness he should fall, then lift him gently to your Sacred Heart. Remember that the world's possessions are no longer his and that he has nothing left but you. Grant that each precious host to be consecrated at his hands may bring him closer to you.
ADULT FORMATION SERIES: LECTIO DIVINA
Finding Intimacy with God
In the Bible and the writings of the Church, prayer is described as an intimate conversation with God. For many people, however, prayer often feels dry and boring. If this applies to you, or if you want to rediscover the beauty of prayer, join our next adult formation series at Good Shepherd! This six-part series facilitated by Alex Erickson will teach the time-honored prayer method of Lectio Divina (Prayer with Scripture). You’ll learn how to have intimate conversations with God, how to hear God speaking to you, and discover the beauty of Scripture. Each session will feature a 30-minute video, followed by time for questions, reflection, and discussion.
Sessions will take place from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on the following Mondays: June 5, June 12, June 19, July 3, July 10, and July 24. You can register here. Registration closes on June 2. Contact Alex Erickson with questions.
CELEBRATING SEMINARIAN DAVID
Join us in the Social Hall after Masses next weekend, June 3 and 4, as we say thank you to Seminarian David Kirsch, who has blessed our parish tremendously during his year of residency here. From pastoral ministry to minister training to serving at the altar to helping with our youth to sharing his joy, David has been very good to us. Please help us thank him and say goodbye as his time here draws to a close.
MEN'S SPRING RETREAT
The Men's Spring Retreat will be held on Saturday, June 3. The retreat will feature a talk and discussion on Spiritual Fatherhood from 9:30 to 11:30am. In addition to the talk, there will be opportunities for shared meals, fraternity, communal prayer, and outdoor activities. You can find more information and register here. Email Trevor with questions.
MASS & CONFESSION TIME CHANGES
The following changes to our Mass and Confession schedule begin June 3.
WEEKDAYS Beginning June 3, we will shift the weekday schedule, removing Monday’s Mass and Confessions and adding Thursday Mass and Confessions.
WEEKENDS Beginning June 3, we will no longer have morning Mass on Saturdays. We will have confessions from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. And starting June 3, our Saturday evening Mass time will change to 4:00 p.m. The new schedule will be as follows:
Mondays
No daily Mass, Confession, or Adoration
Tuesdays
Confession & Adoration from 5:00 to 5:45 p.m.
Mass at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
Mass at 7:30 a.m.
Confession & Adoration from 8:15 to 9:00 a.m.
Saturdays
Confession & Adoration from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Mass at 4:00 p.m.
Sundays
Mass at 8:30 & 10:30 am.
Discounted tickets to National Eucharistic Congress now available
Join your Catholic brothers and sisters at the first National Eucharistic Congress in 83 years! Encounter the living Jesus Christ, experience profound renewal, and be sent out on mission for the life of the world. The Archdiocese has a limited number of discounted tickets available to the National Eucharistic Congress. See details and get your tickets here.