From the Heart of the Shepherd
- Church of St. Mark
- Apr 15
- 3 min read
From the bulletin for The Sunday of Divine Mercy (2026 April 12)
April 5 - Easter Sunday
The parish pastoral year can neatly be divided into quarters. The fall term starts early September and culminates with Christmas. The winter quarter runs from January through Lent and terminates gloriously in the Pascal Triduum. The spring session begins with Easter and runs until the Sacred Heart solemnity mid-June. Then commences the summer “recess.” Although the Life never really comes to a stop here at the parish… otherwise we would be dead!
Consider this “syllabus day,” then, for our spring segment. Together we can look forward to the following:
The Easter Bible Study begins this Tuesday. I am very excited to be leading a study on the Psalms. In the holy season, we will be looking at them especially in light of their fulfillment in Christ, and as windows into His interior life. In other words, as on-ramps into the spirit of His never-ending “Day”.
April also means Rummage Sale at St. Marks’s. Our spring sale falls during the fourth week of the month. This year, it coincides yet again with our now annual Feast of St. Mark, which occurs on a Saturday. That means that we will almost fulfill my secret dream of inaugurating RUMMAGE-FEST, i.e. infusing the Rummage Sale with even more of a festival atmosphere. In reality, the Saturday sale will wrap up just in time for a special 4pm Mass in honor of our patron saint, and at which a very special blessing to our parish will be unveiled for the first time. Afterwards, we will adjourn to the Cafeteria for the Hog Roast, where this year you will be able to pursue an exhibition of over twenty original works of arts with St. Mark, St. Mark’s, or the Sacred Heart as their subject, produced by community members.
May carries with it its usual line-up of special Sundays, including the May Crowning procession and brunch, First Communion, and Mother’s Day. This year, that last celebration will coincide with another very special occasion: Brothers Jose Ignacio and Evan will be serving that Sunday as deacons for the first time, following their ordination the day prior at the Cathedral. Keep them in your prayers!
The somewhat-neglected high holy day of Pentecost is May 25 this year, meaning that the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is June 12. As we heard during the Lenten Speaker Series, that great feast will witness the consecration of our nation to Our Savior’s divine Heart. Don’t forget the encouragement to enthrone the Sacred Heart in your homes prior to that grand occasion.
Meanwhile, the Capital Campaign moves ahead. Our new “stretch” goal is $1.1M, an amount that will provide $760K for our parish, which should fully fund the targeted projects. We hope to have everything wrapped up by the end of May, with a commitment weekend slated for May 18 for those who have yet to pledge. God bless all those who have gotten us this far ($931K pledged at the time of writing) already, putting us in a position to aim for so lofty a goal.
In other news, I expect to remain here this summer and not travel to Detroit for studies for the first time since becoming pastor. I will finish up my coursework this spring semester, and plan to work on my thesis from home here during the summer.
Finally, Parish Council advises me that it might not be a waste of words to confirm here that Fr. Patrick Evans, PES, remains the associate pastor here and that there are currently no plans for his reassignment. Just in case any Good Friday homiletic jests left you thinking you had more reasons to beat your breast on the way home than, in fact, you had.
Happy Easter!
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