Pastor’s Corner — July 4th, 2021
Fr. Joe’s New Contact Info
Below is Fr. Joe’s new contact information:
Fr. Joseph Campbell
Lansing Catholic High School
501 Marshall Street
Lansing, MI 48912
frjoseph.campbell@lansingcatholic.org
Welcome, Fr. Miguel
This weekend Father Miguel will be preaching all the Masses. Below he writes a little introduction of himself.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias
Hello St. Patrick Parish,
I am so happy to finally be here with all of you! I am eager to begin priestly ministry at such a wonderful place, and eager to get to know all of you as well! So that I don’t remain a complete stranger, I would like to offer a few more words about myself.
Journey to the Seminary:
I did not always want to be a priest, and as a kid I did not like to pray nor did I believe the Catholic Faith to be very interesting. Still, I credit Our Lady for leading me closer to her son Jesus, and I am grateful to her for my own vocation – for I don’t think I would have become a priest without her intercession! This is why:
Every day, my family would pray the rosary together – no matter what! And even though I didn’t pay much attention to the prayer, I remember looking every now and then the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe hung up on the living room wall. Though it didn’t move me strongly in any way, it always attracted my attention. Today I feel confident in saying that the daily rosary kept my heart open to the Faith, and it prepared me to receive the graces that were about to come. . .
It was my freshman year of high school, and I had to be confirmed. My parents showed me a bulletin article that spoke of a weekend youth retreat that they wanted me to attend. Not knowing what a retreat was, but knowing it was something religious, I said no. After going back and forth, my Dad asked me to pray about it. “Perfect!” I thought to myself, “I won’t pray, and I’ll eventually say no”. Days later, that’s when the thought entered my mind, “Wait a minute, I’ve been trying to get the new PlayStation, but I have no job or money. . . why don’t I try to negotiate a deal here?” Earlier, my father had said no to me using a website that would allow me to redeem points earned through various surveys and games for prizes – The PlayStation being one of them! So, when I proposed the thought to my father – to my surprise (and his!) – he agreed! Shocked, I found myself going on that retreat! On that retreat, something clicked. Everyone there was on fire for the Faith and it was contagious. I found myself owning up to my own Faith and I left that retreat on fire for the Lord.
It was only after that moment of conversion when I began to hear the call. At first it was a sudden thought, which then turned into a ceaseless desire to devote my entire life to Jesus! After graduating from High School in 2013, I applied and entered into seminary.
Family:
I have two wonderful parents, Manuel and Guadalupe, as well as two older sisters – Sara and Lizzy – among which I am the youngest. I grew up attending St. Thomas Aquinas/St. John Student Center Parish where I received all of my sacraments – including the Priesthood! I also attended the public schools around the East Lansing area and graduated from East Lansing High School in 2013. It was right after High School that I applied and began seminary formation at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, MN.
A few more fun tidbits:
I love to play board games (Blockus, Codenames, and Uno are among my favorites). I love watching movies, as well as playing and listening to music. My favorite saints are St. Faustina, Padre Pio, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. John the Baptist, and St. Francis of Assisi.
I look forward to sharing so much more about myself in the time to come, as well as hearing your own stories of how the Lord brought you to himself.
God Bless,
Fr. Miguel