Thank you for your patience and faith during these days when there haven’t been public Masses. After much prayer and discernment, we are going to begin weekday public Masses beginning next week on Tuesday, May 5. Please know that not all parishes will be ready to begin next week. Some pastors, especially those with higher COVID-19 cases in their counties, may want to wait. Other priests may have other circumstances that may cause them to wait. Please be patient and understanding. We are all trying the best we can. Later today, I will be sending out a second email to the Lay Faithful with protocols on the gradual resumption of public Mass for the Diocese of Salina. PLEASE READ!!! I want to emphasize a couple of things:
The month of May is dedicated to our Blessed Mother. Today at 2 pm, please join me and the other bishops from the United States as we renew our consecration of our country to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Click here or here to participate in the service. On Divine Mercy Sunday, I reconsecrated our diocese to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the patroness of our diocese.The Worker
Today, the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. Jesus, the Son of God, was also the son of a humble carpenter. Jesus learned the trade of carpentry, working side-by-side in St. Joseph’s carpentry shop before beginning his public ministry. During this pandemic, more than 30 million people have filed for unemployment. We pray that they will soon regain employment.
Our Catholic Charities staff continues to go out to parishes to bring food and other supplies to the needy. Thank you very much for your support to Catholic Charities. They are doing a great job of ministering to those who are struggling the most during these days.
Speaking of charity, the hot lunch program for young people at St. Mary’s Grade School in Salina has been extended until June 30. The program is serving 1,000 meals a week.and will likely serve 10,000 meals by the end of June. Thank you to Nick Compagnone and the
kitchen staff at St. Mary’s for their dedication and service.
Congratulations to all our college and high school graduates. May God bless you and all your future endeavors and plans. May God bless continue to bless you and your families. We ask our Blessed Mother to continue to protect our diocese during these days.
Some quotes from St. Damien of Molokai. He served the people of a leper colony in Molokai, a Hawaiian island. His feast day is May 10.
“My greatest pleasure is to serve the Lord in his poor children rejected
by other people.”
“I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.”
“Having no doubts about the true nature of the disease, I am calm, resigned, and very happy in the midst of my people. God certainly knows what is best for my sanctification and I gladly repeat: ‘Thy will be done.’
