May 8, 2022

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We had our School May Crowning on Friday.  We also had our Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast for our School on Friday.  We would like to thank all who made a difference through their service for our Parish and our School as we cannot do this without you.  This Sunday we will have our traditional May Crowning Mass at 9am as a reminder to all to strive to imitate our Blessed Mother’s virtue in our own lives.

We had a Town Hall Meeting at St John Vianney on Tuesday and here at Mary Our Queen on Thursday to present our Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning process as well as to allow time to hear comments, suggestions, concerns and answer questions.  In addition, in the next few months, Fr Richard Reiser – the Pastor of St John Vianney, Fr Mario Rapose and myself will be preaching at both Parishes so that all might have an opportunity to get to know us.  We will also be organizing open houses for each of our Parishes so that all may see each other’s Parish’s facilities.  Just a reminder, our Archdiocese is currently undergoing a Pastoral Planning process for the future of our Archdiocese.  With the declining numbers in Mass attendance, the decline in population in the rural counties and the growth in a few concentrated counties as well as taking into account the declining priests’ numbers, the Pastoral Plan will create a new vision for how we as a Church will flourish in the future.  One of the proposals in this planning process is for Mary Our Queen Parish and St John Vianney Parish to share a Pastor and an Associate with both sites being utilized for the ministerial needs of the two faith communities. Another proposal is for our Parish to begin ministry for those who are Spanish speaking given the growth in Spanish-speaking parishioners in our area.  This will include having a Mass in Spanish on Sundays. Details of operations and the various needs for the new arrangement will be determined through meetings with leadership personnel of both parishes.

Please keep next Saturday May 14 morning from 9:30am to 11:30am free to help us with mulching all our planting beds and various areas around our campus as well as undertake a spring cleaning around our Parish grounds.  If you have a shovel, rake, wheelbarrow or gloves, please bring them.  It is a wonderful opportunity to renew and beautify our Parish grounds for the year.

 

Also, if you are willing to donate some plants and trees, these are some of the plants we are looking for – Andorra Juniper Shrub (need 4), Red Twigged Dogwood Shrub (need 4), Yellow Twig Dogwood Shrub (need 4), Endless Summer Hydrangea Shrub (need 6).  We are also looking for 2 blue spruce trees and 2 red maple trees.  Please contact the Parish Office if you are able to donate any of these plants. Thank you for your generosity.

With the addition of the Memorial Benches in our Entrance Plaza, we have more or less completed our Entrance Plaza.  Please note that the plaques for the Memorial Benches will be installed soon.  We are still looking to install 2 – 4 foot benches and 1 – 6 foot bench at the Entrance of our School patio (facing 119th Street).  If you would like to purchase a bench in memory of a loved one, kindly contact the Parish Office.

Please check out our Weekly Updates via email.  If you have not received an email, kindly call our Parish Office and we will add you in our email mailing list.

Blessed Easter Season,

Fr Marc