Dear Parishioners, On this 5th Sunday of Easter, we will celebrate the first of two groups of our students receiving their First Holy Communion. A second group will be receiving this sacrament next weekend. Congratulations to all our students and thank you to our catechists and parents who instructed them so that they would be ready to receive the gift of the Eucharist! I promised that I would tell you a little bit more about the upcoming retreat for our active priests in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. Normally, we would have our annual retreat in Lent. However, this year, the Bishop asked that all our priests join him in a special retreat that will begin on Monday, May 15, and last until Friday, May 19. We will be at a retreat house in the Detroit area and will not be available for Masses or funerals during this time. When we come back from retreat, we will have the first of two ordinations taking place in May. The first ordination will be on May 20, and this is the ordination of our seminarian Andrew Schmidt as a transitional deacon. This will be his final step before priesthood next year. Please keep him in your prayers as well as all of our priests as they prepare for their retreat during this Synod year. Hopefully, by this time, you have received your personal pledge cards for BAA in the mail from the Diocese. If you haven’t done so already, please prayerfully consider a pledge to support our seminarians, permanent deacon candidates, and many other ministries of the Diocese of Kalamazoo. Our goal this year is $269,893 (or rounded up=$270,000). Please drop your completed pledge card in the mail, bring it back to Church to put it in the collection, or you may also give an online donation or pledge at the website for the Diocese. Thank you for considering a pledge to support the work of the Church. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark