Fr.
Timothy M. Alkire, J.C.L.
(Please check out
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"To you, our Mother, Protector of
Christian Families, Mother of Divine Love,
we entrust once again our entire
parish community
and all who come here
as well as this beloved city of
Lafayette.
And once again, into your hands we
place the fruits of our prayers and labors for your Son
and ask through your intercession
peace and harmony here – a peace promised by Your Son."
- from my sermon concluding our
first Assumption Pilgrimage
Every year at
this time, I write about our annual Assumption Pilgrimage
-- this year on August 13-14. I hope every person
in our parish family is planning to participate in some way
in this important event -- important because we
continue to strive to sustain and support a restoration of
an authentic, living Catholic culture for our young people
who are today faced with so many pressures.
Maybe you can't
walk 30 miles. But maybe you can walk the last eight miles
with us from Battle Ground along the creek, or from Davis
Ferry bridge or from the pedestrian bridge and Riehle Plaza
where we begin our Eucharistic procession to our beloved St.
Boniface.
Or maybe you can
come to the closing Mass at 6:00 on Saturday the 14th, vigil
of the Assumption, and can stay for the food and festivities
which will follow.
Or maybe, if
coming isn't a possibility for you (and I think in
particular of the homebound or those suffering from physical
ailments), you can offer prayers and join us spiritually to
gain the blessings of this vital event in the life of our
parish family.
But all of
us, the living stones of the Church, can and should
participate in some way or another.
If you have teens
in your family, have you urged them to come? I think it's
important you do...it will help them to see our Catholic
Faith in action -- on the beautiful roads, in prayer, in
laughter and joy, in God's creation.
Pope John Paul
never missed an Assumption pilgrimage to the beloved shine
of Our Mother at Jasna Góra (Bright Mountain) in Poland --
the center of Poland’s Marian love -- the spiritual capital
of the entire nation, where Mary is loved as Patron and
Queen of Poland.
Karol Wojtyła, the
future Pope understood deeply how love for Mary always leads
to love for her Son. In 1946 he experienced the solemn
consecration of his nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
celebrated at Jasna Góra.
In 1957 an exact
replica of the image of Our Lady of Jasna Góra went on
pilgrimage to every Polish parish with the intention to
deepen or awaken the bond between Mary and the parishioners.
And to this day,
for Polish Catholics the annual Assumption pilgrimage to
their Mother and Queen is an indispensable part of a living,
breathing Catholic culture and life, a moment of formation
for the youth, and a visit with their Mother on which they
have come to rely.
Pope John Paul II
said this about the pilgrimage: “...one has to place
one’s ear at this holy place in order to sense in which way
the heart of the nation beats in the heart of the Mother.”
John Paul II’s
firm belief in the need for Marian pilgrimages inspired him
to speak of a "geography of shrines" which reaches
beyond Poland. During his many journeys throughout the
world he always tried to visit at least the country’s
national Marian Shrine with which he usually connected the
entrustment of that people to Our Lady.
We have such a
shrine at St. Boniface -- a shrine where specifically we
entrust our families -- always certain of her loving
attentions.
Every night,
broadcast nationally and internationally, there is the
so-called Call of Jasna Góra which unites all Polish
faithful, in particular the Polish youth.
Each evening at 9
pm they make a spiritual pilgrimage to Our Lady of Jasna
Góra and sing these words to her, "Mary, Queen of Poland,
I am near you, I remember you, I am on watch."
I've had the joy
(as our young people from St. Boniface have) to be there
surrounded by the thousands who crowd into the sanctuary,
witnessing what is truly the renewal of a people’s and every
individual’s entrustment to Our Lady -- something Pope John
Paul thought of utmost importance in his ministry.
Will your son or
daughter be with us this year? Will we all be together this
year for our pilgrimage? This is one of the deep desires of
your Mother's Heart, and your pastor's too...
Fr. Tim, MI
Read
Fr. Tim's Pastoral Letter for the Year of the Eucharist
July 2010
Our Lady of the Precious Blood,
watch over the past, present, and
future living chalices of the Blood of Jesus, especially
Bishops Doherty and Higi,
Father ___, and
deacon/seminarian __.
Amen
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Priests
Fr. Chris
Miller
Fr. James
Miller
Dcn Mark
Miller
Fr.
Maurice Miller
Dcn Steve Miller
Fr. Robert Moran
Dcn Ron Morrow
Dcn Jose Munoz
Dcn Ron Nevinger
Fr. David Newton
Fr. Tom Obiatuegwu
Fr. Dennis O’Keefe
Fr. Michael Ondo
Fr. L. Onwumere
Fr. A. Paternoster
Msgr Fred Pothoff
Fr. Tom Poulson,
Fr. Richard Puetz
Dcn Bill Rahill
Fr. David Rasner
Dcn Bill Reid
Fr. Chris Roberts
Dcn Juan Rodriguez
Fr. Ted Rothrock
Fr. Joseph Ruffing
Fr. Martin Sandhage
Fr. Kevin Scalf
Fr. J. Schiavone
Fr. Ron Schiml
Fr. John Schultz
Msgr. Robert Sell
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Seminarians
Clayton Thompson
Curtis Verner
Dcn Matt Arbuckle
Jamie Baxter
Dcn Josh Bennett
Michael Bower
Cole Daily
Stephen Duquaine
Sam Futral
Stephen Geer
Thomas Haan
Chris Helle
Kevin Hurley
Adam Kerrigan
Jason LaPaglia
Peter Logsdon
David Nedvidek
Kyle Neterer
Dominic Petan
Dcn Sean Pogue
Dcn Tony Rowland
Danny Shine
Matt Spencer
Robert Storey
Joseph Stanish
Travis Stephens
Clayton Thompson
Curtis
Verner
Dcn Matt
Arbuckle
Jamie
Baxter
Dcn Josh Bennett
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August 2010
God our
Father, please bless our new Bishop Timothy Doherty, our
priests, deacons, and seminarians, especially ____ and ____
. Act in them. Speak in and through them. Teach, lead and
guide them always. Let them live in You and persevere in
intimate union always. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother
of Jesus and mother of priests, intercede for them. Amen.
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Priests
Fr. Chris Shocklee
Fr. Steve Snoich
Fr. William Stang
Dcn Truman Stevens
Fr. Eric Underwood
Fr. Peter Vanderkolk
Dcn Joe VanSchepen
Fr. William Vath
Fr. Donald Vernon
Fr. Mark Walter
Fr. RichardWeisenberger
Fr. Jack Weldon
Fr. Joseph Westfall
Fr. Paul White
Fr. Paul Wicklum
Fr. RobertWilliams
Fr. H. Woolson
Fr. DominicYoung
Fr. John Zahn
Fr. Ambrose Ziegler
Deacons in formation
Deceased priests
Pope Benedict XVI
Bishop T. Doherty
Bishop Emeritus W. Higi
Fr. Ray Akeriwe
Fr. Timothy Alkire
Fr. George Askar
Fr. Joseph Aytona,
Fr. Pat Baikauskas
Fr. James Bates
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Seminarians
Cole Daily
Stephen Duquaine
Sam Futral
Stephen Geer
Thomas Haan
Chris Helle
Kevin Hurley
Adam Kerrigan
Jason LaPaglia
Peter Logsdon
Kyle Neterer
Dominic Petan
Dcn Sean Pogue
Dcn Tony Rowland
Danny Shine
Matt Spencer
Robert Storey
Joseph Stanish
Travis Stephens
Clayton Thompson
Curtis Verner
Dcn Matt
Arbuckle
Jamie Baxter
Dcn Josh Bennett
Michael Bower
Cole Daily
Stephen Duquaine
Sam Futral
Stephen Geer
Thomas Haan
Chris Helle
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