Pastor’s Corner — April 21st, 2024
New Deacon Assigned to St. Pat’s: Josh Luttig
I’m happy to announce that Bishop Boyea has assigned Josh Luttig as our new transitional deacon on his way to the priesthood. Yes, you read that correctly; we are receiving another Deacon Josh. We’ll have two Deacon Josh’s for a period of one month, so it might get confusing. Maybe we can come up with nicknames? Either way, I’m very happy to receive Josh Luttig as a new deacon on his way to the priesthood. He’s a great guy. He gets ordained a deacon on May 11th and starts his assignment here on May 13th. Below you’ll find Josh’s little introduction to himself to the parish:
My name is Josh Luttig, and I will be your new deacon for the year! I have been in seminary for seven years, and at this point in my preparation for the priesthood, I get to be at your parish and dive into parish ministry!
A little about me: I am from Most Holy Trinity parish in Fowler (the same as Fr. Mathias). Some hobbies of mine include woodworking, basketball, archery, hunting, violin, guitar, and reading. Some of my favorite saints are John of the Cross, Therese of Lisieux, and Catherine of Siena.
I felt God calling me to the priesthood when I was young, and I entered seminary right out of high school. I attended Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Minnesota for four years, and have been at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit for three years. I’ll be ordained a Deacon on May 11th (please pray for me!), and then a priest next year! Seminary has been the best years (and also the most challenging) of my life and I look forward to continuing this journey with the Lord toward priesthood!
I look forward to seeing you soon and being a part of your parish community. I hope to get to know you, so don’t be shy! Feel free to ask me anything. I love sharing what the Lord has done in my life and I want to share Him with everyone! Seminary includes a lot of studying, so I’m looking forward to jumping into various ministries at your parish!
Save the Date: Two Events
• Pentecost Outpouring (Sunday, May 19) Save the date for our special bi-annual event “Outpouring” in the Church in which we will be praying for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit for those who want more of what Jesus promised. The event on May 19th is particularly geared toward those who may not have much or any familiarity with the grace of baptism in the Spirit and are eager for more of God’s love and power in their lives. Along with preaching and beautiful praise music, we usually have a testimony or two of parishioners who have experienced God’s love powerfully in past events. As a way of preparing for this we will have a special Restored event the evening before (Pentecost Vigil, May 18) to intercede for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the parish.
• Healing the Whole Person Retreat (May 31-Jun 2) These retreats put on by the John Paul II Healing Center, which we’ve hosted live a couple times here, are deeply transformative. We all know intuitively that the following saying is true: “hurting people hurt people.” We also know that unhealed wounds cause misery in our lives and can prevent us from following the Lord and play a key role in the sin in our lives. If all of this is true, then seeking healing has to be one of the top priorities of our spiritual lives. Many parishioners who engaged in opening their hearts to the healing love of Jesus find that Jesus is capable of bringing significant healing to areas of pain and weakness in their lives, resulting in greater interior freedom in their relationships and in their relationship with God.
The good news is that God can bring restoration to those areas of your heart where you feel helpless or hopeless, and even those areas of your heart that you’d rather just forget about. If you’re unsure about going, if you’re not sure it’s worth your time or if you’re skeptical I invite you to read Be Healed: A Guide to Encountering the Powerful Love of Jesus in Your Life (2014) by Bob Schuchts. If I had only three books I could have the parish read, this would be one of them. More information about the retreat is on page 5 of the bulletin.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias