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Andrea Schneider

1/24/2019

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At our last Holy Spirit Encounter night, the staff had a strong feeling to step out in faith and try something new.  We wanted to be able to minister and provide healing for everyone who came. That might include physical or inner healing, that might include asking for more of the Holy Spirit, or simply praying a blessing on them or for a difficult situation.  We set aside time to pray as a staff and ask for the Lord’s guidance, and we were given scripture verses to focus on, words of knowledge on how the God wanted to break chains of darkness, and bring freedom and healing. We felt confident that the Lord wanted to heal people and that we should be bold and go into the night with expectant faith.  Faith always proceeds healing, and sometimes the Lord wants us to step out in faith and ask for healing. In physical healing, it’s in testing it out, moving an arm around to see if it has been healed that the healing occurs. So instead of only having the option of individual prayer at the end of the service as we have done in the past, we introduced group prayer at our last service.    

No one is required to stand up or raise their hand for the group prayer, but it can be a very powerful experience.  Standing back and watching the community come together and be willing to pray with people was an amazing sight to see.  I have never been apart of something like that before and it was truly moving! For those who are more comfortable with individual prayer, they had an opportunity to come and receive one on one prayer with our prayer teams.

Joyce Feldpausch has been to a handful of healing masses at a few different parishes, but never had attended one organized like the last at MHT.   She shared with us her experience:
“Jared and I had brought our 6 year old daughter with us, which made it unique to begin with. On top of that, the service was laid out with a strong community of prayer time that made us feel comforted. It was set up in such a way that at first made me feel a little apprehensive, but it became a very powerful experience.  Father Dennis called out each ailment and asked that anyone experiencing it and seeking prayers, would please raise their hand. The rest of the people were then encouraged to physically move out of their seat and find a raised hand, extend their own hand, and pray with Father over them. It was humbling to reveal our own pleas to God, and also really wonderful to see our daughter witness a strong community of people praying for her, as well as to know others were going through similar struggles. It brought us both to tears bringing her around to different hurting and broken people. Teaching her that she can be a part of God's healing love just by extending her hand in prayer was so eye-opening for us.”

We had a gentleman that received healing in his knee during the group prayer time.  We asked anyone with leg, knee, or foot pain to raise their hand. Gerry Davis put his hand up and people around him went over and prayed over him.  After being prayed with his knee was significantly better and came forward to testify to his healing. It was amazing! “My knee is better since being prayed over at the last Holy Spirit encounter.  I give all the credit to our God and am thankful for His great love for us. I look forward to the next Holy Spirit encounter to see God’s great work for us.”

One person came up to the prayer team who needed their white blood count to go up in order to be able to have a needed surgery next week.  After being prayed with the blood count level went up and was within the allowable range. Many people that came for prayer left with more peace or experiencing God’s love.  Jesus desires to heal and restore, he does all the real work, we just
share God’s love with the person we are praying with.  As we’ve been praying for the Holy Spirit Encounter night on January 27 we have a sense that the Lord really wants to pour out his love and grace.  God in his goodness wants to shower his children with blessings, we just need to open ourselves up to receive it.

God Bless,
Andrea

​
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Fr. Dennis

1/21/2019

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Dear brothers and sister in Christ,

Sometimes pro-lifers are accused of being only concerned about saving babies, as if that isn’t something worthy of our time, but the point of those who say this is meant to infer that we are only concerned about the baby and not the mother or any other issues of justice.  In fact, this could not be further from the truth.

​The Catholic Church’s teaching is that all life is previous and of value…. No exceptions.  We are concerned not only for the unborn child, but also for the mother and family and all those whose dignity is being undermined.  This means we are concerned with justice for workers, for those in bondage to human trafficking, for the refugee, the unborn child, the elderly person in the nursing home who is being abused or taken advantage of, for the respect and dignity of all life.

BUT we must also recognize that if we cannot guarantee the right to the life of the unborn child in the womb, then the truth is, all life is then vulnerable.  Is this not what we have seen in the decades since Roe vs Wade, a slow erosion of the rights of every human person?   Let’s not fool ourselves.  If the most vulnerable have no rights, then who decided which of us have rights?  We have seen this throughout history:  the Nazi scourge, the evil of Communism, the unbridled greed in the West among those who would trample human rights so as to have money and power, those who through history are willing to exploit others for personal gain.

Pope Francis writes:
“All life has inestimable value even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”  Pope Francis  (Message to Catholics taking part in annual Day for Life in Britain and Ireland July 28, 2013)

Statistics tell us that over 50 million children have been aborted (murdered) since 1973 and about 126,000 occur every day worldwide.  In 1869, One of the earliest feminists, Susan B. Anthony, said:  “I deplore the horrible crime of child murder. No matter what the motive-love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent-the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed.” 

The principal of  our secular culture has become the law of convenience.  We cherish the rights of others until those rights interfere with his infinite capacity for self-interest. Today, it is convenient for many to dismiss a fetus as something only partially human, just as it was convenient two centuries ago for plantation owners to dismiss blacks as merely three-fifths of a person. Measuring human life by race or by usefulness, or convenience is the blindspot of modern culture. 

Let us not deceive ourselves, we are not just in a political battle, but THE battle for our souls.  The future lies within our hands – hands that not only work to save the unborn, but also clasp together in prayer.  Satan and the forces of darkness are behind this evil of abortion and all offences to the dignity of human persons. 
We await the day when “all men are created equal” is truly the law of our land.

​Fr. Dennis

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Paul Fahey

1/14/2019

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I’m encouraged to share “faith testimonies” in talks I give, in my religious ed classes, and throughout the other ministries I help with. These testimonies are stories of when God has reached out to me in memorable or life changing ways. Some of these encounters with the Lord are dramatic but many are more subtle, their full meaning only understood in hindsight. I want to share one of these moments with you as a way to invite you to a similar encounter with the Lord.

Almost two years ago I was invited to attend a one day retreat that the diocese had put together called Kerygma Encounter. When I first heard about this retreat I was excited about it, but a few weeks before I found out that some good friends of my wife and I were visiting from out of state on the same day as the retreat. I was seriously tempted to skip, but I had already committed and paid for it, so I felt bad backing out.

I’m glad I didn’t skip. This retreat, without exaggeration, changed my life.

The word “kerygma” is Greek for “the gospel” or “the good news.” That’s the focus of this retreat, to bring those attending to an encounter, both in mind and heart, with the central good news of our Catholic faith: God made us so that we may become God.

After this retreat I my Catholic faith and my relationship with God became exciting and new again. This retreat was a like a key that unlocked treasures I didn’t know existed. Everything, the Sacraments, the moral law, prayer etc, had a whole new life and meaning. It was like God revealed this secret about himself and his plan for my life.

Shortly after the Kerygma Encounter I knew I had encountered God there. The way I understood and taught others about Catholicism changed almost immediately. But the full meaning of what the Lord was doing with my life through this retreat continues to be revealed to me.

Several months after I went on the retreat I fell into a period of depression and spiritual desolation. For six months or so I felt distant from God, I was angry at God, I didn’t trust that he really cared about me and the suffering I was going through (the details of how God pulled me out of that is a longer story for a different time). As that season of desolation was fading I found out that the diocese was looking to train people to help lead these Kerygma Encounter retreats and I quickly signed up.

This past August I helped lead my first Kerygma retreat and I once again experienced God like I hadn't before. I felt alive with the Holy Spirit, like I was doing the exact thing he had created me to do. So I signed up to lead more retreats and I revamped Confirmation preparation and First Communion preparation to model the Kerygma Encounter. And I saw the Holy Spirit work through me and through these ministries.

Because of Kerygma Encounter I have a renewed and deeper love for God, a love that has overflowed into my personal life, my family, and my work. Right away I knew I wanted to bring this retreat here to MHT. So on Saturday, February 2nd, Monica Pope (a lay parish minister who helped create this retreat) and I will be presenting Kerygma Encounter in the activity center from 9:00am-3:30pm. This retreat will be free for parishioners and will include lunch. Please register on our website or call the parish office. If you’ve been thinking about attending one of the weekend parish adult retreats, this might be a great stepping stone since it’s only half a day. I really encourage you to come see what good news the Lord has to reveal to you.
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Fr. Dennis

1/7/2019

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​State of the Parish
 
 
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;  there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.  To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.”                                               1 Corinthians 12:4-11
 
 
Dear parishioners of Most Holy Trinity,
 
I want to take this opportunity to share with you how our parish has been doing this last year and give you a sense of what is to come.
 
From my perspective, I feel that the Scripture I quoted above from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians really speaks to what I see happening this past year.  I have always said that I believe that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, both ordinary and extraordinary are present here in our parish. I feel that I have been watching the Holy Spirit do this work here in our community of faith.  Not that we have “arrived” or that all the gifts have been recognized and nurtured, but rather, that the Holy Spirit is leading us. I see this through the Encounter Evenings with the Holy Spirit, our Adult Retreats, our Healing Services, our continuing work of Formation and Evangelization, our Youth Ministry and Catechesis and School.
 
Among a couple of notable examples, the Grade 8 Retreat and the High School Retreat this past fall were both really powerful times. The Lord really manifested His love and His power.
 
I see more and more people stepping up to help in all our ministry endeavors. We are always looking for more people who are willing to step up, but as we develop our parish ministries, I believe more people will sense the call to serve.
 
It’s important for us to remember why we’re doing all this.  Because God wants His Church to rise up in this time and culture, which seems to be moving away from Him and be the witnesses that the Lord has called us to be by our baptism.
 
There is a spiritual battle going on in our world.  As I mentioned in my homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, quoting St. Pope Paul VI’s pastoral exhortation on Christian Joy, speaking about our world that is more and more pushing God to the side the Holy Fathers says: “The meaning of life escapes him, that he is no longer sure of himself or of his transcendent calling and destiny. He has desacralized the universe and now he is desacralizing humanity; he has at times cut the vital link that joined him to God.” I believe that is why God is raising up a generation to respond to the call to evangelize and transform our culture.
 
Regarding Sacraments, one of the signs of life in our parish, this past year we had: 25 baptisms, 12 weddings, 20 first communions, 34 confirmations, and 12 funerals. We had also 2 catechumens in the RCIA.  We have 3 young men in the seminary and others discerning. We have several young women in religious life, which is uncommon these days. One of the signs St. John Paul II spoke and wrote frequently to young people. “Young people have you ever thought of committing your existence totally to Christ?  Do you think that anything can be greater than to bring Jesus to people and people to Jesus?”
 
Just a few weeks ago we published our financial statement online, and you can access this through our website. If you do not have internet service, please call the parish office and we can provide you with a printed copy.  In terms of our overall financial picture, things are going well. We were a little nervous to see how the success of Witness to Hope (WTH) would affect us over the past year.  Our fund balance continues to increase. Our Sunday collections took a slight dip over the last year, but that could be expected with influence of WTH. We have received just over half of the pledged money for WTH. This will continue to come in as pledges are paid over the remaining three and a half years of the five year campaign. We all saw the first fruits this summer when we redid the parking lot. This coming summer we hope to renovate the parish offices. We are also working with the committee to put together plans for the Activity Center.
 
Again I want to thank all our parishioners who are giving of their time, talents and finances to our parish.  The Church faces many challenges in our world today.  But I am convinced that with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can meet these challenges. I pray that we will continue to partner with all our brothers and sisters  so that the Gospel can be proclaimed to all.
 
God bless,
Fr. Dennis Howard
Pastor
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Jenna Epkey

1/2/2019

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Hi, I’m Jenna Epkey and I am a new parishioner to MHT over the past summer. My husband, Matt, was born and raised here, but moved to the Grand Rapids area for college. After college graduation we stayed where the jobs were and developed our occupational therapy careers.  Even though we really liked our jobs, we began to have an unsettled feeling as we tried to discern where we should raise our family. Last spring, we had the opportunity for different careers and made the decision to move to the area. We feel blessed to be surrounded by family and reside in a community full of wonderful people.  

In efforts to grow in faith and learn more about our parish community, I decided to attend the Adult Retreat this past fall. I had considered other retreats in the past. Yet, every time there would be a retreat, it would not be the “right” time for me. It “wouldn’t work in my schedule, I was “too busy.” After signing up, I felt a sense of peace knowing even though I would be a away from my husband, children, and missing the soccer games, amongst the other list of items that needed to be completed, I needed a spiritual refresher that would help me be a better wife, mother, and person.

Going into the retreat weekend, I had an intention to develop my prayer life. Prayer at times can be difficult for me. I will have good intentions to wake up early and then a child wakes up in the middle of the night, or we say a quick prayer on the way to school, or countless other life interruptions.  The point is: I can struggle to find a routine. Through each retreat talk I was able to glean some helpful hint or deeper thought that allowed me to reflect on my prayer life further.

During one evening in Adoration, Adam asked us to imagine Jesus in our mind. The vision I saw was an image of Jesus holding a child. Along with that vision was the words: “Faith like a child.” Years ago, my mom gave me a framed series of 3 images of Jesus holding children and playing with them. Jesus was smiling and had an expression of love upon his face typical of a mother or father. The images struck me at that time because I had not really thought of Jesus in this way. He had a kindness and gentleness upon his face as he stared at the child.

Prayer time was another part of the weekend that I really appreciated. I was able to delve more into a prayer routine that works for me. During this time, I was able to pray in the chapel, pray with others, or comb through one of the many books available. As I began reading a book, it quoted Pope Francis: “Perseverance in prayer keeps our faith alive and strong. For in that prayer, we experience the compassion of God, who like a Father filled with love and mercy is ever ready to come to the aid of his children.” What struck me during this reading is that he said “children.” He did not say come to the aid of his followers, the members of the church, but his children. The imagery from adoration came back to my mind. Also, the words “perseverance in prayer” hit home. In order to keep our faith strong, we must persevere. Suddenly, I felt a little less embarrassed of my unorganized prayer life because I am continuing to persevere in prayer. God was revealing to me that “trying” is a very important key to continue to grow in faith.

Another prayer concept I was curious about was journaling, so I began to read a book on journaling called Praying with a Pen. As I went through this book, so many things resonated with me, but specifically when I got to the page that read Luke 18:17 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Again, there was another connection to what I heard in adoration! The author went on to say “When we become like children, we become teachable, moldable empty vessels.” When I think about my own children, they are little sponges- picking up on our mannerisms, sayings, and behaviors. I began to reflect on when my children are hurt or frustrated and how they seek out comfort from my husband and me. I was beginning to better understand what it meant to have “faith like a child”.  I was understanding that I should go to our Father with my concerns, my sadness, my questions. I should not have too much pride to think I can tackle life’s challenges on my own. Just like a good parent, Jesus is there to wrap his arms around me and comfort me.

Throughout the Adult Retreat weekend, I was able to develop a plan to better commit to my prayer life. Not only did I grow spiritually, but I was also about to develop relationships within my new parish community. I could have made a million excuses not to attend, but I was very happy that I went and felt I was given a spiritual refresher to continue to persevere in many areas of my faith life. Slowly, this empty vessel is taking small steps in the direction of holiness.

As we begin the Christmas season, I encourage each of you to pray with perseverance and have faith like a child, after all the real reason of the season is the CHILD in the manager.

​Jenna Epkey


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Contact Information:

​​545 N. Maple St.
Fowler, MI 48835

Parish Office Phone: (989) 593-2162
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​E-mail: office@mhtparish.com