September 25, 2016

Dear Parish Family,

Next Sunday it will already be October. Religious Education is in their third week. We have consolidated all grades of catechesis to Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We are also offering a combined program of devotions and catechesis for parents who have children in religious education. These sessions will take place during RE classes either in the church or at the Parish hall.

October has been declared by the Catholic Church in the United States as Pro-Life month. Pro-Life Ministry has organized a set of activities for St. Patrick Church. Every weekend you will receive a flyer regarding Pro-Life topics. These topics will cover post abortion healing, miscarriages, infertility, suicide, etc. These themes inform us and make us aware of the need to pray and to give counseling to those families who have been affected by one of these difficult situations. We are also invited to participate in the Baby Bottle Boomerang, a baby shower for Giana’s House, and a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI. Watch for more information in the upcoming bulletins.

The Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be on Saturday, October, 29th. If you choose to leave earlier, we will all meet at 10 am at the Shrine. As you may know, His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke was the founder of that beautiful shrine. During my years of seminary formation at Saint Louis, MO, I had the opportunity to speak with Cardinal Burke on several occasions, as he was the Archbishop for the diocese of St. Louis. He told me that his vision was to spread the devotion of Our Lady of Guadalupe and to entrust the unborn to her the protection . He personally asked me, as a priest for the diocese of Rockford, to organize pilgrimages to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I hope that I will see you there on October 29th and spend a day of prayer together.

God bless you.
​Father Lopez

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