Father’s Column 2/28

Posted on February 28, 2016 View all news

Laudetur Jesus Christus!
Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
Praised be Jesus Christ!

As many of you have heard, Fr. Earl Fernandes, the Dean of the Seminary and Parochial Administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Camp Washington, has been given the great honor of being appointed to work at the Papal Nunciature in Washington D.C. (the Vatican’s embassy to the United States). We congratulate Fr. Earl on his appointment and we wish him well as he moves on to work in Washington D.C.

This honor, has, however, left a void back here in the Archdiocese. Fr. David Endres, Fr. Al Lauer’s nephew, has been appointed as the new Dean of the Seminary. The Archbishop has also assigned the Community-in-Formation pastoral care of Sacred Heart. I have been named the Parochial Administrator of Sacred Heart effective March 7, in addition to being the Parochial Administrator of Old St. Mary and Chaplain of LaSalle High School. The entire Community will work to fill the pastoral needs of both parishes.

We are humbled and honored by the Archbishop’s trust in the Community-in-Formation. In the interim, because of the swiftness of this change, there may be disruptions and difficulties as we attempt to adjust to caring for two parishes, a high school, local hospitals, and the county jail. With your prayers and support, I am confident that we can make this arraignment work. There will be some slight modifications that will need to be made to the Sunday Confession and Holy Communion help schedule, so I do ask for your patience as we attempt to work these details out. Thank you for your understanding.

Because of our many assignments and our inability to make coverage for certain things, Sacred Heart will lose their daily Masses, their Italian Mass, and their Saturday Vigil Mass for the time being. So please keep them in your prayers as they adjust to the loss of Fr. Earl and some of their schedule. We should be very grateful at Old St. Mary’s for what we have been able to maintain on account of busier and fewer priests. Bigger parishes than Old St. Mary’s don’t even have one priest, much less three.

Many of us know quite a few parishioners from Sacred Heart, and they are no strangers to Old St. Mary. The Traditional Mass movement began here under Fr. Piepenbrier in the late 1960’s. Many attend daily or special Masses at Old St. Mary. Please be welcoming of them, as they also now become a parish entrusted to the Oratory-in-Formation. I hope that we can be fully collaborative parishes in the future and pull resources for the salvation of souls.

In the meantime, thank you for your patience as we adjust some things we have become accustomed to at Old St. Mary’s as we work to accommodate the pastoral care of Sacred Heart. Pray for an increase in vocations in general, but especially to the Oratory-in-Formation and the Archdiocese. With enough priests, we can ensure the future stability of both Old St. Mary and Sacred Heart parishes.

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