Dear Parishioners,

This week we have first Friday Masses 8 AM at SJ and 9 AM at OLF, and first Saturday 8 AM SJ. This Saturday (May 2nd ), we also have the celebration of Confirmation at 10 AM. Bishop Daniel will be coming to celebrate this special sacrament with our 11th graders. Please pray for those students who will be confirmed on Saturday.

Next Sunday May 3rd , there will be a fundraiser at Cana Wine Bar. It’s an event to raise money for priests in our diocese. This money will be used to help priests who need some extra help, counseling, or maybe they need a little extra training or guidance. This is really for the well-being of priests, more then just the normal training we as priests get. The event has been sponsored by myself and the parish. I invited many people to the event, realizing that we have only 50 spots (not a lot of space really). So, if you didn’t get to come to the event, or didn’t get invited, I just want to put you at ease. I recognized many other people would be willing to support this cause, I hope it is something we can do again. However, this year is just a sort of test to see how it goes, and the Hudrlik’s and Tommy Sablan have generously agreed to help. So, don’t take it as a slight if you didn’t get invited. I haven’t heard that from anyone, but I just wanted to directly address the possibility of that misunderstanding. If this goes well, we will probably be asked to do it again. Fr. Tony Wroblewski asked Rachel Cady and myself to help organize this effort. They did something similar in Fr. Tony’s parishes. So, I’m hopeful it goes well, that we can gather to support this cause, have a good time, but I also know that there might be a feeling of exclusivity… and I want you to know that is not the intention. This was an easy way to organize it on relatively short notice. The good news is, I have confidence that many other people would have been happy to contribute to this cause, and in the future there very well may be the chance to do so.

The Diocese of Duluth will have 6 men ordained to the diaconate on Friday May 1st at 5 PM at the Cathedral in Duluth. This is a great gift to our diocese. We have 4 couples in formation from our parish for the diaconate. Let’s pray for those in formation and those who will be receiving ordination soon.

Looking out a little further, we will have Fr. Scott with us for the weekend of May 9th -10th. He is making the rounds to the different parishes as our Vocations Director. We will host a dinner on May 6th at 6 PM for young men of the parish 9th grade - college age. If any guys are interested in learning about the seminary or priesthood, please let me know if you would like to come to this event. You can call the office 218-546-6559.

Some people have asked me about what I think of President Trump and Pope Leo’s back and forth. I haven’t watched a lot of it or paid a lot of attention to it. However, I think its unfortunate. I am sure it plays right into the hand of the news media who will exploit it to stir up people over something that in the end will not produce any helpful fruit. The whole thing is an unfortunate situation. There’s a lot of times as a national or international figure that you need to say something. There are also times when one ought not say much if anything at all. So that’s what I think. But I’m not the president or the Pope, and I defer to them to make decisions on these matters.

In Christ,

Fr. Eli