Dear Parishioners, 

I would like to share with you an opportunity for couples who would like help understanding their fertility. There is an organization that operates in our diocese called Northland Fertility Care. They have partnered with parishes for many years to help teach couples more about their fertility. Through a grant, we have a parish membership that allows couples to get many of their services for free. This can be for couples who are trying to conceive, couples who just want to learn more about tracking cycles, couples who are engaged and want to have a grasp of their fertility prior to getting married. Really its for any couples who want to learn how to work with their fertility. Northland Fertility Care provides education and support for individuals and couples who are:

- Looking for natural family planning options

- Seeking answers to reproductive health concerns, such as irregular cycles, infertility, recurrent miscarriage, or postpartum transitions.

- Interested in understanding and monitoring their fertility and overall health

Check them out at: https://www.northlandfertilitycare.com/

Tammy Ringhand is our Director of Religious Education. She has started conducting meetings with families to discuss some possible adjustments and changes in our faith formation model. We are looking at being a pilot location for lowering the age of confirmation. At this time we don’t know how low it would go. It depends on what Bishop Daniel and the Presbyteral council say, but the conversation is definitely being had there and in our parish as well. 

In general, we are looking at readiness based sacramental reception, which would mean there would be some variance in when students would receive 1st communion confirmation and 1st reconciliation. Readiness based sacramental preparation focuses on trying to help students who are ready to receive sacraments. We look for certain signs that help us know someone is ready. We also would rely on the parents to be part of that conversation with their child. Parents are the first educators of their children in the faith. No amount of work we can do will replace what is taught and modeled in the home. We want to work with parents to help prepare their children. We also recognize that in a missionary time like ours there may be people at different places, and it might be advantageous to give the sacraments based on readiness rather then by a certain age. 

We understand this change might be challenging, but we are looking at trying something that would allow parents and students to choose to receive the sacraments (within certain limits) when they feel ready. It would likely entail meetings or an application process to show readiness. We are still developing this potential process. For the purpose of sharing our ideas and getting some feedback, Tammy is planning to meet with each family. Please take time in these meetings to listen, share, and discuss the possibilities. 

There are some dioceses that do what has been called restored order, meaning after baptism, confirmation is given before 1st communion. This was the original order of the sacraments in the early church. We are considering making this an option, though it is almost certain that if some families would like to wait, we would offer sacramental prep later once it was felt like a student was ready. 

Power Up was a fun time, thanks to all the students who participated. It was a great way to spend some time with you all and enjoy some time outdoors. 

You may notice a few improvements or fixes happening around our campuses. We have been trying to address the issues that our insurance company dinged us on. Some of the issues which were brought up are things we are trying to put off since at SJ we have limited time in the church building. But most of the things at OLF and in the parish office and rectory we are trying to resolve. 

We have stagnated with our Ministries Appeal a bit here in the middle of summer. We were off to a great start in the spring, but we need to keep working on our goals. If you haven’t made a contribution to the Ministries Appeal please consider doing so. This is how the diocesan office is funded. We are benefiting right now with having Fr. Paul with us. His salary is paid by the diocesan office.

In Christ,

Fr. Eli