The Knights of Columbus will have an Icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Good Shepherd on Friday, April 11 at 6:00 p.m. The Icon will be in the church for veneration and prayer prior to the Stations of the Cross
Please join us on Palm Sunday for a Cross Walk. We will meet at the Real Life Church at 3:00 p.m. and walk through Montrose and surround our churches, schools and community centers with prayer!
Becoming a Knight of Columbus can transform your life. As a Knight, you have the opportunity to support our parish, give back to our community, grow in your faith.
The Knights of Columbus Council 8669 is more then a fraternal organization. Imagine being part of an organization that fills your heart and your mind with the joy of giving to others and the feeling that comes with making a difference. We’re involved in the community. We support Good Shepherd Catholic Church and its priests, activities and events. Knights serve the church as ushers, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, Altar servers, Catechists and take care of the ground maintenance.
Will you join us?
Thank you to everyone who has made a gift or pledge commitment to our Diocesan Services Appeal. Our gifts to DSA enable our diocese to provide services crucial to our parish. The programs and services funded by DSA offer direct assistance to individuals and families, and to parishes, schools, and Catholic Charities agencies.
Goal: $15,312 Pledged: $13,348.00
If you have not yet made a gift or pledge, I invite you to do so today. Gift envelopes are available in the church or the parish office. You may also submit your gift online at: www.dioceseoflansing.org/appeal. Your DSA gift will support the vital services and ministries that help bring the love of Christ to all we encounter.
The Youth Group will be sponsoring their annual Children’s Easter Egg Hunt following the Mass on Easter Sunday, April 20. They are in need of donations of Easter Candy for this event. Donations may be dropped off in the Family Life Center in the purple tub near the Youth Room. Thank you for your support!
Happy 3rd Lenten Sunday! And happy March Madness, how exciting. I have yet to complete my tournament bracket as of the writing of this article. Honestly, it’s been a few years since I’ve filled one out, probably because my prediction skills do not tend to be that accurate. I suffer from the same fatal mistake that most fans make during times like these, which in bracketology is to overestimate my hopes for the teams and conferences I prefer beyond what reality suggests. Plus, some teams just get hot, and you can’t predict it. Even though I am a Michigan alum, my favorite coach since boyhood has always been Tom Izzo. Each year I instinctively hope he wins one more Natty, so he can ride off into the sunset with all the accolades he deserves for a coaching career so well pursued. Good luck to all your brackets and your teams! Go Big Ten, Go Blue, Go Green.
Speaking of annual spring flings, last Saturday evening I joined many of you for our St. Robert Superdraw! What a genuinely wonderful and memorable experience. As a first timer, my overall impression of the night was twofold. Number one, I was struck by the level of detail, preparation, and execution. Back in the first week of September, I walked over to Jack’s Place to meet with members of the Superdraw committee, and I listened as they began sharing ideas and doling out responsibilities. Six months later, all that behind-the-scenes planning and hard work produced an impressively decorated activity center (which, wow, super glow up!) crewed by a small army of teachers, parents, and community supporters who hosted us for food, games, and a chance to support our school. I am grateful to everyone who volunteered a helping hand, and I laud our Superdraw committee most of all. They deserve a standing ovation. On a personal level, I really enjoyed the opportunity to pull raffle tickets and announce the various prize winners (haha).
Number two, I was struck by the sheer number of people who came out for the event. I saw many people I recognized and many more that I did not. So, it was clear to me that Superdraw pulls in many parishioners and community members-at-large who do not currently have children at St. Robert School. This is a true benefit for our school families! Superdraw reduces direct tuition costs by about $800 per family. Being a product of Catholic education, I know the sacrifices my parents made for us, so I personally appreciate the witness of a community willing to shoulder some of that sacrifice. If you attended Superdraw or purchased a ticket, if you donated your time, energy, auction, or raffle items, if you came back on Sunday to help clean and rearrange the physical space, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Our children are our future, and all these things fulfill Jesus’ desire that the little ones come to Him. May God bless our efforts and make us prosper in loving obedience.
Fr. Brian
Are you tired of giving up chocolate for Lent? Then here are some other creative ideas on what you can do for Lent 2025.
To be clear, this is not a list of things to do instead of fasting and sacrificing during Lent. I’m always on guard for talk that sounds like, “I’m not doing a regular Lent, I’m doing a cool Lent.” Fasting and sacrifice are essential practices modeled and endorsed by Christ himself and are among the main actions that the Church calls us to during the Lenten season. (No pain, no gain. No cross, no crown.)
That being said, prayer and almsgiving—the source and fruit of sacrifice and fasting—are also essential to Lenten observance. Self-giving love must flow from and into the Trinity, which is the source and destiny of all love.
Read more here
(found on ascensionpress.com)
The parish community is invited to participate in a Parish Lenten Project to help serve needy children from St. Luke’s New Life Center in Flint. Sr. Carol has provided our parish an abundant supply of shoe boxes. The boxes will be decorated with an image of Our Resurrected Lord and a special message. Parishioners can take a box home and fill it with items for a child beginning the week of Ash Wednesday, March 5– you choose girl or boy! Items can include: prayer cards, religious books, small food items, Easter candy, socks, shorts, shirts, slippers, small toys, crayons, pencils, jewelry, art supplies, etc. (no weapons or inappropriate items).
Return boxes to the parish hall and all Boxes of Joy will be delivered to the children the week of Palm Sunday –in time for Easter!
Pope Francis opened the Jubilee Year of Hope for the universal Church on Christmas Eve 2024 in Rome. Pope Francis released a papal bull proclaiming the Holy Year 2025. The Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year is entitled Spes non confundit (“Hope does not disappoint” and can be found here). In addition, the Apostolic Penitentiary has published this decree.
The Jubilee of Hope Opened in the Diocese of Lansing on December 29, 2024,
The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
To Strengthen & Share Hope
A central aspect of the Jubilee Year is the Jubilee Year Indulgence.
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY
INDULGENCES FOR JUBILEE YEAR 2025
A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.
The indulgence applies to sins already forgiven. A plenary indulgence cleanses the soul as if the person had just been baptized. Plenary indulgences obtained during the Jubilee Year can also be applied to souls in purgatory with the possibility of obtaining two plenary indulgences for the deceased in one day.
To obtain an indulgence, the usual conditions of detachment from all sin, sacramental confession, holy Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope must be met. (Usually, an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be).
Holy Doors are to be opened at the Papal Basilicas of St. Peter, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls (no. 6) and at the Rebibbia Prison in Rome. The Dicastery for Evangelization notes that the distinguishing mark of the Jubilee Year is not the Holy Door, but rather the Jubilee Indulgence, received through the Sacrament of Penance and acts of charity and hope. The various ways and many places where this indulgence may be obtained are summarized above and are outlined in the Apostolic Penitentiary’s Decree on the Granting of the Jubilee Indulgence issued May 13, 2024.
Click here to learn more:
+Find out conditions for how to obtain the Jubilee Year Indulgences
+Diocesan Events for the Jubilee Year
+Places of Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Lansing
+Questions Regarding Indulgences