Hello everyone! Last week, I drove to Philadelphia to finish up my certificate in Bioethics. I had taken a year-long class online from 2019-2020 and the last part of it was an in-person oral exam that was supposed to happen a year ago but was postponed due to the pandemic. Bioethics is the study of ethical issues in the field of medicine and healthcare. We try to determine what is ethical/morally permissible in a wide-range of issues from conception to natural death. For example, what types of fertility treatments are ethical and which are not, what are some of the restrictions on organ donations, when is the proper time to remove a feeding tube in a dying patient. Another aspect of health-care that many will face are end-of-life issues. If you have a living will, I highly encourage you to reconsider having a health-care proxy instead. A proxy is someone you trust who can speak for you medically in the event that you cannot speak for yourself. The proxy would say that whatever medical treatments are done are based on your wishes but should be ethical, or in conformity with Catholic principles. A living will might say “Do Not Resuscitate,” but this is quite vague. If someone has a heart attack, a DNR might mean allowing you to die, even though you could receive therapy, get better, and live many more years. Allowing someone to die when death is not imminent is immoral. A living will might allow a medical treatment to be performed that is unethical. Medical treatments must be performed according to what is ethical at that time of the person’s life. Living wills cannot tell doctors what the appropriate treatment is 10 years from now. The statement “I want my caregivers to do whatever they want to help me” can be ambiguous and could be interpreted as euthanasia. The bottom line is that you should make it clear that any treatments you receive are ethical and follow Catholic principles by having that statement written down and/or by having a proxy to help ensure those wishes are followed. Hospitals usually have Catholic chaplains and ethical boards to help in decision making. I received a certification so that I could also help anyone who has these types of questions. 

Happy Mother’s day to all ladies who are physical and/or spiritual mothers! We will have a blessing for mothers at the end of Mass this weekend. We will also have flowers for the women to take as they leave Mass. For our Blessed Mother, we will have the May crowning at OLL on Sunday and then at ICC next Sunday, May 16^th. 

Congratulations to our First Communicants from OLL who received their First Communion on April 24^th. (Blake received his last year, but had no ceremony.)

If you cannot get these pastor’s updates through email over the weekend, please know that they are immediately posted on our parish websites on the homepage under Pastor’s Update as soon as I send them out which is usually Friday afternoon. 

Kathy at ICC’s office is out next week, May 10-13th. 

If you need anything urgent, please be sure that you can call the office and leave me a voicemail message or email me. 

Our Bishop’s Annual Appeal has begun. The BAA supports the whole diocese. Households should have received envelopes by now. I have always been a proponent of emphasizing a greater percentage of participation rather than bigger dollars by a smaller percentage of people. I do appreciate the bigger dollars, but participation is an act of faith and our goal as church is for people to make more acts of faith. The BAA is one way that you put your faith in God believing that He will provide for you even if you part with your money. Remember the biblical principle of tithing, that is giving God your first 10%. It all belongs to God anyway and He’s letting you keep 90%! The Church does not mandate that we should give 10%, but it is a good principle to live by. You can even give 5% to the church and 5% to charity. And the 10% is the first portion, so before taxes! 😊

OLL’s goal this year is $17,216.23. With 125 registered families, that means we could easily hit our goal if each family gave $140. 

ICC’s goal is $16,152.61. With 150 registered families, we could hit our goal if each family gave $108. 

Some may not be able to give that much and that’s okay, but please make that act of faith by participating in some way. Thanks to those who have already given. 

Extra envelopes are available in the churches but you may also contribute online at https://www.columbuscatholicgiving.org/make-a-gift-now Thank you for your act of faith!

This year, ICC will not have Vacation Bible School due to a lack of volunteers. OLL is working on having VBS. More info to come. 

Deacon Mike has a new email address. It is jmhood@columbuscatholic.org . Please use that if you need to email him for anything related to the parishes. 

Today, the Catholic Men’s Ministry and Bishop Brennan presented the Catholic Man of the Year award to Steve Johnson. It was presented online. Here’s the link to the 25 minute presentation. Congratulations again, Steve!

We are still moving forward with the renovation. Sorry it’s taking longer than expected to give out more information, but the committee is still solidifying the plans. More to come... And, no, I am not trying to trump Kenton with a new marble altar. Those pesky rumors! 😊

Every year, parishes host a different missionary group to come to the churches and make an appeal for their mission. Because of the pandemic, we will not have the missionaries come in person. Instead, they have sent us their information. Our mission appeal weekend is next weekend May 15/16^th at both parishes. We will read their information at Mass and take up a second collection. If you write a check, please make it out to the parish and in the memo line write “MCP.” You will have up to 4 weeks to send in a check. This year, the group who is making their appeal are the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu which is based in northern Uganda. Most of what they need help with is familiar to me. In the summer of 2012, I went to the neighboring country of Kenya and volunteered at an orphanage there. Many of the children were orphaned due to their mothers having died of AIDS. Those children were the fortunate ones as many other children end up on the streets, some sniffing glue as a way to numb the pain of hunger. There is a lot of poverty in those areas, lacking clean water and education. There were IDP camps (Internally Displaced Person’s) set up in fields from people fleeing their homes due to civil wars. With people living in tattered tents for months or years, they sometimes had to sleep standing up when the fields flooded from rain.  Thanks for your generous donations to the Little Sisters. Attached below is their flyer. 

Here is a picture of some the orphans that I took on a hike. They were so happy and when I brought peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches, not only did they eat all of it, they licked the containers clean! 

On May 22/23^rd weekend, we will have the group here who sell Olive wood carvings made by Christians in the Holy Land. Rosaries, crucifixes, statues, etc. will be for sale. They will set up a table outside at both churches if the weather is good and will be selling them after all Masses. The proceeds go to help Christians in the Holy Land. 

The parish where I was assigned just before coming here had a parish mission this week. I thought the priest giving the mission was fantastic. I encourage you to watch his talks on their Youtube page. You can fast forward to his talks:

Sunday: “Unless you eat my flesh” starting at minute 24: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wKbWoZBvqc

Monday: “Receiving Holy Communion Worthily” starting at 1 hour 35 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db1ZO02Zytw

Tuesday: “Praying at Mass & Eucharistic Adoration” Starting at minute 35.

Wednesday: “The Life Changing Power of Adoration” Starting at minute 31.

Thursday: “No Priest, No Eucharist”  homily beginning at minute 33.

What would it take to have greater intimacy in your relationships?

We may think that we need to find a spouse, or be married 40 years before ever experiencing a close intimate relationship. But you don't have to wait to start loving. True intimacy can start today!

This is the focus of our 2021 Catholic Love|Life Conference. You were made for intimacy.

Learn more today: https://go.virtualcatholicconference.com/lovelife

Dear Parish Respect Life Friends:

Your voice could help save millions of lives.

The Hyde Amendment has protected Americans from funding abortion for 45 years. It’s credited with saving the lives of over2.4 million children to date.

Now, powerful members of Congress want to take away this law that both Democrats and Republicans have supported for nearly half a century. Without it, billions of taxpayer dollars could go to abortion.

That means abortions would be cheaper, easier, and funded with our taxpayer dollars.

It is critically important for Catholics to send a strong message before Congress moves forward to impose taxpayer-funded abortion. Because of the incredibly high stakes Congress needs to hear from a massive number of people.

I invite you and the people of your parish to join our diocesan response to this nationwide effort by the USCCB, set for the first week of June.

The primary goal is for millions of Catholics to sign the petition on NoTaxpayerAbortion.com.

The USCCB has created easy, ready-to-use tools that can be found at respectlife.org/no-taxpayer-abortion.

These include a sample announcement, graphics, flyer, and infographic. More tools continue to be added as they become available, so be sure to check back.

Additionally, the USCCB is hosting a webinar Wednesday, May 12 at 2:00 PM (EDT) that will give more information on the push for tax dollars to pay for abortion and what Catholics can do to stop it.  Anyone interested can register at notaxpayerabortion.com/webinar. 

Please consider including this announcement in your parish bulletin and other communications:  Stop your tax dollars from going to abortion.NoTaxpayerAbortion.com

Sincerely,

Jerry

Jerry Freewalt

Director, Office for Social Concerns

Catholic Diocese of Columbus

197 E. Gay Street

Columbus, Ohio  43215

614-241-2540

The livestream of the Mass for this Sunday, May 9th, will be from OLL at 11am.  

Attached are the bulletins, the worship aid, the Little Sister’s flyer, and Fr. Ferguson’s cat column.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!      

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!   

God bless!      

Fr. Ed