Message from Bishop John
October 2024
Bishop John Doerfler's monthly Flocknote is being published a week early this October to accommodate Pope Francis' request for a day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7, 2024.
HATTIE HANOLD | THE U.P. CATHOLIC
The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed on a rosary at St. Michael Parish in Marquette on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11, 2021.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Grace and peace to you in our Lord Jesus Christ.
This week, Pope Francis has called for a day of prayer and fasting on this coming Monday, October 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas invasion of Israel and the ensuing conflict.
Vatican news reported that the Pope said after Mass in St. Peter’s Square: “‘In this dramatic hour of our history, while the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to devastate entire peoples and nations,’ the Christian community is reminded of its call to ‘put itself at the service of humanity.’"
Let us all join together with the Holy Father in praying and fasting for peace. Since Monday is also the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I invite all Catholics in the Diocese of Marquette to pray a rosary for peace, and to embrace some form of fasting on that day.
In 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared several times to three children in Fatima, Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. In the course of these apparitions, Mary asked the children to pray the rosary daily for peace. At the time, the First World War was raging, and communism in Russia was an ever-growing threat. Our Lady’s request to pray the rosary for peace is as needed today as it was at that time. The news is filled with reports of the war in the Mideast, Ukraine, and so many other corners of the globe. Thus, let our praying of the rosary for peace be not just a one-time plea on Monday. Let us pray the rosary every day. Our world and our nation need our prayers.
Let us be reminded that no problem is too great for our Lord to solve. It is for us to turn to Him, trust in Him, and pray. In the Lord is our hope.
+Most Reverend John Doerfler
Bishop of Marquette
