Dear Parishioners, These past few weeks have brought a lot of transitions to our staff, in particular the priests serving the parish. The rectory is a little quieter these days as I only have one other priest with me. We welcome Fr. Antony Rajesh, MFSF to St. Catherine for the next couple of months. I’m sure he will tell you more details, but he just wrapped up his four-year assignment at St. Joseph Parish in Kalamazoo. He was originally asked to return to his congregation before he begins another assignment but was able to extend his time in our diocese so that he could assist me at St. Catherine. Fr. Antony is planning to be here until the end of September and both of us hope that another priest from his congregation will be in transit by that time. All these transitions are making us all realize what we have been talking about for several years has now become a reality: The priest shortage is here. Having gone several years without ordinations to the priesthood and then only ordaining one priest a year doesn’t allow us to replace the priests that have reached retirement age or must resign because of health reasons. Fr. Antony belongs to the same congregation of religious priests that has helped in our diocese for a number of years: The Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales. As you know, we have had several priests from that congregation help at
St. Catherine over the years. Fr. Antony and I will certainly be busy with all the things that go on here at St. Catherine. But we are always available to serve you and your families. Please don’t hesitate just because there’s only two of us at the current time. We will always have time for you. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark