His mercy endures forever!

This Sunday, we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter, which is the last day in the Octave of Easter. This Sunday is most commonly called Divine Mercy Sunday. St. Faustina received visions from Our Lord that He desired the Second Sunday of Easter to be a feast of thanksgiving for the gift of Divine Mercy poured out throughout the season of Lent and Holy Week in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. So today, we give thanks for the gift of mercy in our lives, mercy in the lives of our loved ones, and mercy that has been poured out abundantly in St. Joseph, Pillar of Families Parishes. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good because His Mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 118) We have “lost” and “given up” our sins and the Lord has, in turn, given us Eternal Life in Jesus Christ. (John 3)

I would like to remind you about Witness to Love, our new marriage sacrament preparation program. This is a program designed to have a couple that is already married accompany the engaged on their journey to their wedding day and beyond. This allows a friendship and a way for the engaged couple to explore the virtues it takes for a fruitful and generous marriage to form. It is modeled around the idea of accompaniment that has been championed by Pope Francis. I hope (and ask) that if a couple asks your help, you can respond with a “Yes!” While this program requires some time for talks and fun activities, it does not revolve around Church teaching alone, but around the lived experience of married life. You need not be formed in theology, you only need to be willing to share your insights, friendship, and helpful advice born from your experience in marriage. The program materials do the rest. You will even have the opportunity to grow in your Faith and perhaps even deepen the love in your marriage even further. To be a mentor, you must be a practicing Catholic, married five years or more, and not be a parent or sibling of the bride or groom. You can be from any parish within the St. Joseph, Pillar of Families Parishes. For couples, it can even be from a nearby parish that is not within our Family of Parishes.

Please note that I shared a video updating you on the office unification move. I highlighted that we are in process of developing procedures for renting spaces and getting keys, Mass Intentions, and other paperwork items. This past week, the staff were all at the Sidney office to have discussions on how to best utilize the office space. We have also continued the process of developing new job descriptions for administrative staff and have begun the process of discovering the best structure for Religious Education and Evangelization staff within our Family of Parishes. I have also been trying to get in the habit of “pushing the power down,” that is referring questions about religious education to Jodie Blindauer, referring questions about administration to Jill Heitmeyer, and referring questions about buildings and grounds to George Sholtis. This gets staff and parishioners in the habit of asking the staff members who have the competence, so that not everything falls on the pastor and vicars. It also creates a system of co- responsibility and limits the number of people who report directly to me. You can find the video at our Family YouTube Channel by searching “St. Joseph Pillar of Families” or “@st.josephpillaroffamilies” on YouTube. The YouTube Channel should be the second or third option in the results list. Subscribe to be updated on future videos.

Thank you to our Deacons who help out in so many ways. Whether it is assisting at Masses, doing funeral vigils, burial services, or funeral services outside Mass, doing holy hours, weddings, and many other things. They are truly generous, and I am grateful in a special way for their sense of humor as well. They have brought much joy to my life.

Peace in Christ,

Fr. Jarred Kohn