Pastor’s Corner — September 27th, 2026
Presbyteral Convocation: No Mass Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week
This week all the priests of the diocese will be gathering with the Bishop for our annual convocation. We will not have Mass this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Confessions on Wednesday are canceled, but Thursday confessions are still on. Please pray for us priests.
McCann Hall Soft Opening and Sunday Coffee and Donuts are Back!
This weekend we’re doing a soft opening for our newly renovated McCann Hall beneath the Church because not everything is completed yet: light sconces and monitors/tech need to be finished. But it should be finished by October 11th. But good news is that we can now use the hall again.
This means that after 9:30am Mass we have our coffee and donuts back! In my view, Coffee and Donuts is a key moment of public fellowship for parishioners and guests, who can gather informally before or after Mass. It’s very popular among young families too, who maybe like to treat their kids to a Sunday snack after Mass. But we need more volunteers to keep this ministry going, as we don’t want it to fall on the few people who do it all of the time. If you can volunteer for Coffee and Donuts even only once in a while, please email Kim Kaye at kkaye@stpatchurch.org
My Sabbatical and Fr Tim Nelson
I’m saying more about this in my homily this weekend, so I won’t write that much here. As for a point of clarification, my sabbatical is September 30-December 31st. While I’m excited about it on the one hand, I’m actually sad that I won’t be here. Fr Tim Nelson, the retired priest who is helping when I’m gone, is a very good and friendly priest and happy he’s here. Here is a little introduction he wrote about himself.
Greetings! My name is Fr. Tim Nelson. I am grateful to Fr. Mathias for the opportunity to get to know you and serve you while he is away on sabbatical. I retired as pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Jackson at the end of June this year. In December, I will be 75 yrs. old, so I thought it was a good time to hand the reigns over to someone who is younger and smarter.
I was born on December 21, 1951, at Dubuque, Iowa, to Tom & Serena Nelson - may they rest in peace. I received a Catholic education from grade school through college. I dreamed of being a priest since I was 6 yrs. old, but that plan changed when I started dating in high school and college. Instead, I went to medical school at the University of Iowa; graduating in 1979. I did my internship and residency in internal medicine at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids (1979-82) and my fellowship in cardiology at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak (1982-84).
As a physician, I saw people suffer in many ways. My patients taught me that the body is important, but the soul is immensely more so. The idea of the priesthood was returned. I entered Sacred Heart Seminary in 1996 and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lansing by Bishop Carl F. Mengeling on June 10, 2000.
I served for two years at Holy Redeemer Parish in Burton (2000-2002). Then, for 9 years as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Flint (2002-2011). Lastly, I served in Jackson for 15 years as pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Hispanic Community from 2011-2026.
May God bless all of you. Please pray for me.
Fr. Tim Nelson
There you have it. A former cardiologist as my sub. While he will be living at St Joe’s Rectory in Howell, Fr Tim will be full-time helping with everything here at the parish: Masses, confessions, funerals, sick calls, appointments, etc. He will be present at staff meetings and to various events at the parish. In our staff meeting this week, I laid out a who’s doing what when I’m gone. Fr Peter and the Parish Leadership Team, under the leadership of Ryan Nardozzi who is serving as team lead, will be in charge of the parish and school when I’m gone.
Quick Updates
• Year of the Family with Bishop Boyea. This began at the beginning of the month but Bishop Boyea introduced a weekly catechetical series with short films that offer ways families can grow in living out their faith as a family. To see Bishop’s message on this and sign up (via text or email), please click here.
• Update on Fr Joe Campbell: I’m assuming that most people heard this by now, but it occurred to me that not everyone here at St Pat’s knows about this. Back in June, Fr Joe Campbell released a statement to St Joseph’s in Howell where he was scheduled to serve for a year. Essentially, he didn’t end up going into the military and is taking some time off right now. For an update on how he’s doing, please click here. Please say a prayer for him.
• Christianity and Socialism Do Not Mix: It seems that interest in socialism is ramping up again and that is not good. Socialism isn’t just condemned by the Church, it’s very bad for everyone. Not long ago, Bishop Barron wrote an X post about socialism that has over 2.6 million views. Back in 2020, I wrote “Socialism: The Church is Not Neutral…At All”. Today, I recommend you read this excellent article published by the National Catholic Register, Socialism is Surging in America. What does the Catholic Church Say?
• “Singing the Mass” Presentation Now on YouTube. Our Director of Sacred Music, Regina Scime, gave an excellent presentation on why we sing at Mass. She led us through some of the Church’s documents on the role of music at Mass and had a Q and A. She even had us sing. If you missed this presentation and you’re reading this early in the midweek email, the presentation will be up on our YouTube Channel by Friday. I encourage you to watch it.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias