The Dedication of Saint Brigid of Kildare Parish Center and School

I began the celebration of Catholic Schools Week, Jan 30-Feb. 5, at St. Brigid of Kildare Church in Midland. I celebrated Sunday Mass with more than 500 members of their vibrant church and school community. Following Mass, I presided over the dedication of their newly expanded parish center and school. It was a great blessing to have the opportunity to thank the parishioners of St. Brigid and acknowledge the many sacrifices they have made to make the addition possible.

I was also able to tour the new building, which is a wonderful facility for the school children and parishioners alike. However, it is not the building that we celebrated Sunday, but the gift of Faith which God has given to us. In our Catholic schools, the gift of Faith is shared daily and our children are taught to use their knowledge, gifts and talents to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

I look forward to celebrating Mass with all of our Catholic school children this week, and in a special way to thanking all of those who make their education possible.
I am so proud of our Catholic schools and the tradition of excellence they share in educating disciples of Christ. I believe the school expansion project in Midland is an affirmation that parents continue to desire a Catholic school education for their children.

March for Life 2011: Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

I was honored to preside at Mass this morning with thousands of pilgrims from across the country and our group of 400 from the Diocese of Saginaw at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. What a wonderful house of worship!

See photos from the Mass on the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw's Facebook page.

March for Life 2011: Opening Mass

Four hundred pilgrims gathered at the Center for Ministry this morning begin their journey to the 2011 March for Life in Washington, D.C. I celebrated Mass with the group before we left in a caravan of eight charter buses en route to the nation’s capital to protest the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

See more photos on Facebook.

March for Life is next week

I am looking forward to leading a large diocesan group on a pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. for the March for Life. This will be the fifth consecutive year the Diocese has sent a caravan of busses to the march, and this year's group of teens and adults is the largest to date. If you are not traveling with us, please join us in prayer as we stand up publicly for life. Also, you will find links to news, video and photo updates of our January 22-24 pilgrimage on the diocesan facebook page.

Together, we pray for that day of grace when our legislators and the Supreme Court commit themselves and the country to protect all innocent life from conception to natural death.

Rest in Peace, Fr. Mike…

On Tuesday, I celebrated the funeral Mass for Father Michael Wolf, who served 13 parish communities during his 34 years of active ministry in the Diocese of Saginaw.

Father Mike was the eldest and longest serving priest in the Diocese of Saginaw, and we continue to give praise and thanks to God the Father for the gift of Father Michael Wolf. We ask the Lord Jesus to continue to inspire our young men and women to love the church with that same spirit of love in which Father Mike did.

Throughout his life, many people had the opportunity to listen to Father Mike share stories of living in Germany, traveling as a child with his parents to America, growing up in Bay City and answering the call to be a priest. As I was reflecting on the life of Father Mike, I thought about that way in which he would recount the treasures of his life, almost to the word. So many times, he did the same thing at the altar of Christ. It was as if he would look back on the life of Jesus, on His suffering, His death and His resurrection, and with precision and clarity, he would see Christ in his life and relay that in the words of the Mass.

On behalf of the people of the Diocese of Saginaw, I extend our condolences, gratitude and prayers to the family and close friends of Father Mike.

May he rest in peace.