Pastor’s Corner — July 19th, 2026
Parish Council Member Nominations Fall 2026
Our parish council is a consultative body of parishioners that provides critical input and feedback both on how we are fulfilling our mission and on other major projects and initiatives for our parish. In addition to the bi-monthly meetings each council member seeks input from the parish and brings that feedback to everyone on the council. Essentially, the parish council assists me in making good decisions for the good of the parish. The faithful input of the council is one of the key ways that I get the pulse of how things are going in the parish vis-a-vis our mission and helps shape direction to take the parish. Usually, parishioners are pretty good at giving input to me or my staff directly, but if you ever want to give input directly to the council chair, remember that the chair’s email is in the bulletin.
Because we have three council members who finished their terms in June, we are in need of three more parishioners willing to serve on the parish council for a three-year term. If you’re personally interested in serving on parish council, please fill out and submit the Parish Council Nomination Form found here. These nomination forms, which will also be available in the front office, need to be submitted to me by email or dropped off at office by August 14, 2026. After this deadline, I will, with the help of my leadership team, prayerfully select from the nominations those to serve these terms.
Sound Improvements in the Church
Special thanks to Nancy Coffey, our lead Sound Tech, for her continual efforts to improve sound quality in the Church. In the past couple of months and in particular this past week, she’s helped tune and improve the quality of sound in the Church for Mass. If you ever have concerns about the sound being too loud, soft or muffled in the Church, please let us know.
If you or anyone you know is interested in being a sound tech and playing a big role in helping everyone enter in the worship of God, helping them hear the Word of God, and worship well with the music, please contact Nancy Coffey, ncoffey@stpatchurch.org
More Seminarians? Bishop’s Discernment Dinner on August 16th
We have three seminarians studying for the seminary from St Pat’s. We have another guy applying to religious life and one entering into religious life. God is really blessing the
people of the parish.
Every year Bishop Boyea hosts an annual dinner for anyone discerning a calling to serve as a priest for Jesus Christ and whether this is God’s path for them. This event will take place on Sunday, August 16th at the St. Francis Retreat Center. Check-in will begin at 4:00, and will include an informative talk on discerning the priesthood and what seminary formation is about, followed by a Q&A session with priests and seminarians and a BBQ dinner.
This event is free and open to all men (high school junior or older) who are open to discerning the priesthood and wanting to learn more about it. More information and to sign up can be found on the Diocese of Lansing website.
Encounter Conference Recap and Healing Service at St Pat’s on August 14th
Last Wednesday through Friday we had the Encounter Conference at the Devos Place in Grand Rapids. This year we had over 5,000 attendees with over 150 priests and six bishops. We even had a video greeting from a Vatican archbishop who extended greetings and blessings from Pope Leo XIV. God is good! I saw a lot of our parishioners there and I hope that those of you who made it were really blessed. Thanks for your prayers for me and the team!
Save the date: On August 14th Encounter is doing another healing service here at St Pat’s at 6:00pm in the Church.
Vacation This Weekend
I will be leaving on Saturday for a short vacation up in the upper peninsula to spend some time with my sister and her family. I will return on Thursday next week in time for the 12:10pm Mass.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias