Dear Friends,

You should have received an invitation in the mail recently from Bishop Doerfler to share your prayer intentions with him. At this time each year, he reaches out and pledges to pray for your intentions and hold you close to his heart. 

If you need to print another copy of the prayer intention request card, you can do so at this link. If you would like to enter your prayer intention online, you can do so here. 

I am also thinking of all of you as we head back to Mass and am sharing my personal prayer intentions with you:

For the last several years, graduating high school seniors have been invited back to their elementary school - St. Mary's Catholic School (SMCS), in Sault Ste. Marie. This year, ten seniors returned as part of this tradition. The seniors processed through the school building wearing their caps and gowns, gathered outside where they climbed the jungle gym for their group photo, walked a lap together around the large playground (part of the school's walking program), played in the gymnasium, and visited in the office - reminiscing about their joyful and formative time at SMCS. Congratulations!

Women from across Michigan are invited to come together to focus on their faith and experience the fellowship of sisterhood in Christ Jesus. Throughout the day, women will be encouraged and inspired to ignite their spirits and grow their faith by hearing from Catholic speakers, engaging in praise and worship music, and celebrating Holy Mass with our bishops. The conference will be held at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Michigan on October 16, 2021. For more details, see their website here.

We have lots of interest already in this summer's Development Roundtable on Aug 3 at St. Anne Parish in Chassell. If you are interested in parish development as ministry, this is for YOU! We thank Fr. Ben Hasse for hosting this day of prayer, tours, discussion of upcoming fundraising appeals including UPCSA and iGiveCatholic, and a picnic lunch. For more information and to sign up, click here.

It’s easy to know when to renew your driver’s license or credit card—just look at the expiration date. But what about your estate planning documents? Keeping these current is an essential part of creating the future you envision, but they don’t come with expiration dates. Check out our diocesan estate planning cleanup chart here to make sure you are all set! 

As you travel this summer, and welcome visitors to your parish, you can access summer mass times for all Upper Peninsula parishes at this link.