Father Piega will be out on vacation this week, Father Charles McMillin will be celebrating daily Mass. We will not have confessions during the week but will have confessions this weekend as normal. Effective Aug. 1, our confession schedule will be: Wednesdays and Thursdays 5-6pm and Saturdays at 3:30-4:30pm. If these times do not work into your schedule, please check the schedules of our surrounding catholic churches for their confession times. Thank you for understanding.

In his Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si', Pope Francis calls all of us to feel deeply our stewardship to care for the earth and the poor. As Catholics, we honor our Creator as we care for His creation. In an effort to minimize our impact on earth and her natural resources, we are moving towards a paperless bulletin. Effective the first weekend of August we will be sharing our information through Flocknote, our social media outlets and our website. Please be patient with us as we traverse this new way of sharing our story and passing information. 

Adoration at St. Patrick is on the first Thursday of the month. If you are interested in being a part of the ministry, please sign up to the Flocknote group. Join us at the feet of Jesus where you can lay all your burdens down.

Calling all ACTS members! If you have attended an ACTS retreat before, please sign up on the button below. We are working on getting ACTS started here and need your input!

For our Saint of the Week Series, I'd like to introduce you to Blessed Paul Thoj Xyooj (pronounced Tao Shiong) 1941-1960. Growing up, Xyooj knew nothing about Jesus until he was nine and listened to missionaries who preached the Good News. Inspired by their words, he went to seminary to become a priest, but realized that was not his calling. He came back to his village and accompanied a priest who was preaching to another Hmong village but didn't speak the language. 

Xyooj, handsome and dressed in fine clothes, was mistaken for a king. He told them he was there to teach of a king whose power conquers evil spirits. Being afraid of the evil spirits, the people were eager to learn of Jesus, and Xyooj was very happy to teach them. He did such a great job, that after just three days, 400 people were asking to be baptized! For seven months, he was successfully converting the Hmong people. Unfortunately, his success made authorities question his message. Was he watering down the gospel? Not giving the villagers the whole truth? Xyooj was asked to leave the people he came to love so much, and while he was hurt by the request, he never doubted the God he taught about. He never felt abandoned by Jesus. He was asked by another Italian priest (Blessed Mario Borgaza) to accompany him amongst the Hmong people once again. At the request of some villagers, they began a three day walk on the border of China, lost their way and were ambushed and killed by Communist insurgents.

It is easy to lose faith in people of the world. They are human, make mistakes and disappoint us. I pray that we all have the faith and fortitude to trust in the Lord as Blessed Paul Thoj Xyooj did, and be confident in His plans for our lives and everlasting love for us all.