Pastor’s Corner — April 19th, 2026
More New Catholics: From Divine Mercy Sunday
As you know we bring people into the Church at multiple times during the year: Feast of Christ the King, Easter Vigil, and Pentecost. This year we added another day: Divine Mercy Sunday. During last week’s Saturday 5pm Vigil Mass, 8 people were baptized: Mack Nuoffer, Wallace Nuoffer, Emmitt Prettenhofer, Warren Prettenhofer, Simon Prettenhofer, Graham Prettenhofer; Elizabeth Prettenhofer, and Cecelia Prettenhofer. Jackson Nuoffer, along with Mack, Wallace,Emmitt, and Warren were also confirmed during the Mass.
God is good. After this entire year is up, we will have welcomed 59 people into the Catholic Church at St Pat’s and this doesn’t include the baptism of infants!
Parishioner Bethany Kimball Accepted into Religious Community
I have some exciting news; one of our parishioners was just accepted as a postulant into the Queenship of Mary Community in Canada. Here is a note from her to the parish:
Hi! I’m Bethany, I am a parishioner at St Pat’s, and I converted to the Catholic Church from Charismatic Protestant three years ago. I live at home with my parents, and my younger brother and sister. I’m working as a nurse at the Chelsea Hospital, continuing to learn to give myself in a total gift of love to those God has entrusted to me, as I await entrance to religious life this September.
This whole journey really began when Jesus encountered me in the Eucharist on May 24, 2022, speaking to me more clearly than I have ever heard in my entire life and telling me, “I AM HERE, come to me”. First calling me to Himself in the Catholic Church, and then calling me to a deeper union with His love as His bride.
I first heard of the Queenship Of Mary Community last fall by Deacon Karl Hartmann. I looked them up online, as I had looked up so many other communities, and booked a call with the vocations director. Later, as we talked, I felt Jesus tugging at my heart and when I was invited to a Come and See, I knew the answer was yes. When I visited in December of 2025, I experienced a profound sense of home, and was filled with so much joy and peace as Jesus helped me understand that this was indeed where He was calling me. I am beyond excited to announce that I have been accepted for entrance September 8, 2026 as an Aspirant/Postulant. I do not pretend to know the full and entire will of God, so if He so desired, He could call me elsewhere, but since December 10th, all He has been saying is “I am here, come to me”, and so I come.
I’m very proud of Bethany. Her story will likely be covered in an upcoming issue of Faith Magazine. Please keep her in prayer.
Trump and Pope Leo Xiv
Some of you are aware of some of the public disagreement between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV around the war in Iran. We need to remember that we are Catholics before we are Americans, therefore our faith informs our politics, not the other way around. As Catholics then we can and should freely challenge politicians not only on their understanding of principles of justice but also to hold them to higher standards. Like Archbishop Coakley, the President of the US Bishops Conference, I too am disheartened by what Trump said about Pope Leo. Nevertheless, I largely agree with Bishop Barron on this whole situation in his April 13th post on X:
“The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful. They don’t contribute at all to a constructive conversation. It is the Pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life. In regard to the concrete application of those principles, people of good will can and do disagree. I would warmly recommend that serious Catholics within the Trump administration—Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance, Ambassador Brian Burch, and others—might meet with Vatican officials so that a real dialogue can take place. This is far preferable to the statements on social media.
I am very grateful for the many ways that the Trump administration has reached out to Catholics and other people of faith. It has been a high honor to serve on the Religious Liberty Commission. No President in my lifetime has shown a greater dedication to defending our first liberty. All that said, I think the President owes the Pope an apology.”
Yes, bishops criticizing politicians may come across to some as a partisan move. But such criticism isn’t necessarily partisan. In fact, if we Catholics cannot hold politicians to higher standards and disagree with them at times, then we would be guilty of seeing our faith through the lens of our politics, not the other way around as it should be. When such criticism of politicians is done well (in charity and in a non-partisan way, sticking to Catholic principles) it is actually necessary and very helpful for the common good. Bishop Barron’s intervention is a great example of this.
Regardless where you stand on whether you think the Iran war is a just war, please pray for peace and for the end of the war.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias