​Many years ago, when I was a seminarian, I served one summer at St. Joseph’s hospital in my home town of Chatham, Ontario. I assisted the chaplain, Fr. Eugene Vanderbiezen, and two religious sisters who coordinated the hospital ministry for the patients. I visited the hospital rooms each day, prayed with the dying and helped Father when people requested the Sacrament of the Sick. Every day I went home exhausted, but also feeling 10 feet off the ground, because of how I witnessed the Lord working at the hospital. In particular I was always amazed by the Lord’s grace in the Sacrament of the Sick, especially as I observed its effects among the patients. Sometimes the sacrament would bring great healing and comfort, sometimes I witnessed people being emotionally and physically healed. When I saw these amazing graces poured out I was reminded of the Scripture, where Christ sent His disciples out to preach, “they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them” (Mark 6:13).
 
We believe God heals in all kinds of ways, physically, spiritually and emotionally. One of the special ways that God heals us is in the Sacraments. The origin of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is found In the letter of St. James:
 
“Is anyone among you sick?  He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.”     James 5:14-15
 
The Effects of the Sacrament
Jesus heals us in many ways, but especially through the Sacraments. We have two sacraments called sacraments of healing - Confession and the Anointing of the Sick. Both of these sacraments illustrate the depth and broad reality of healing. In the Gospels we see that repentance and conversion precede healing, sometimes courage to seek out Jesus for healing, but in all cases we see that the person seeking healing has faith. In fact, sometimes Scripture clearly points out that the greatest gift of those who are healed is the gift of faith. We may never be physically healed, but all of us can experience the gift of salvation.
 
Received in faith and in a state of grace, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick provides the recipient with a number of graces, including the fortitude to resist temptation in the face of death, when he is weakest; a union with the Passion of Christ, which makes his suffering holy; and the grace to prepare for death, so that he may meet God in hope rather than in fear. If the recipient was not able to receive the Sacrament of Confession, Anointing also provides forgiveness of sins. And, if it will aid in the salvation of his soul, the Anointing of the Sick may restore the recipient's health.
 
Because of our baptism, we are no longer orphans and are no longer separated from God. Instead, we become a beloved son or daughter of God. Even though this identity as a beloved son or daughter should be deeply ingrained in each of us, this isn’t always the case.
 
1. Do you struggle with accepting that you are a beloved son or daughter of God? Ask Jesus to heal the places in your heart that don’t know you are a beloved son or daughter of God.
 
2. The sacraments are an encounter with the divine presence as Jesus as our Physician. Do you seek an encounter each day with our Lord?
 
3. When Adam and Eve sinned, brokenness entered the world. But the sacraments are God’s remedy to put things back together. What areas of your life do you want God to put back together?
 
4. The Eucharist is capable of healing us in every degree, but we don’t always approach it with this expectation or with any anticipation of healing. How can you increase your sense of awe and of expectation when you encounter the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?
 
I invite you to reflect on these questions and ask the Lord to heal you and increase your faith.
 
God bless,    Fr. Dennis

I’ve been asked to share with you my experience on our parish’s weekend retreat last February.  At first, I was hesitant to go. I thought, would I have the time? Could I afford to go? What could a retreat offer that I could not do at home? Then I thought, why am I making excuses not to try and see if I could build a better relationship with God? 
Going on that retreat was like pushing a reset button. I became aware of things I had not realized before. Truly being attentive of what He wants to place on my heart. The retreat staff offered the tools for me to connect with the Lord on an entirely new level. I never knew this kind of experience was even possible. The Lord and I, on this retreat, together. Jesus giving me a glimpse of how He sees me! It filled me with the purest joy! It was unlike anything I’ve felt before. Now if the experience I had was even a slice of what heaven is like, I cannot imagine what more He has in store for me.
A few Sundays ago, Fr. Dennis spoke about faith. During that weekend, I saw that same faith in everyone. We cannot physically see the Lord, yet I saw Him that weekend. We cannot physically hear or touch Him, yet I felt Him and heard Him as well. I had faith that if I showed up, kept an open heart and mind, the Lord would do the rest. Looking back, it is amazing to see the way that God moved, and still moves, through all of us.
There is another retreat approaching, and I hope you can join us! Between group prayer, private prayer, testimonies, prayer teams, food and fellowship, you will not want the weekend to end. There are so many obstacles and distractions in the world that hinder our relationships and pull our faith from the Lord. This retreat is an amazing opportunity to reconnect with God on a deeper level.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
God Bless, 
Mary Gardner

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It’s wild to think that I’m beginning my fourth school year at MHT! But because it’s that time of year again, I want to take some time to explain aspects of the music ministry and invite you to take part. 

The “ministry” in music ministry has two expressions. It’s a service to the congregation and God, so in that way, the people involved minister to the community. What I think is lacking in many church music programs, however, is ministering to the choir members and musicians themselves. This means that being a part of the program should fill people even as they give. For me, this has meant selecting music that helps us pray and ultimately deepens our understanding of God to His praise. It means providing an opportunity for people to take time for connecting with each other and God amidst going to basketball games and band concerts. It has meant picking music that the choirs can feel good about singing, even when the learning curve is sometimes challenging. 

You do not need to be able to read music to join choir. You don’t have to have a solo-ready voice or availability every single week. Half the current adult choir members don’t read music; I never have anyone sing solo who hasn’t expressed interest and capability; and most of the year, choir members can come and go as they need to for weekly rehearsals and Sunday Masses. What makes the group cohesive is that everyone has a shared love of music and contributes to a steadily growing community of people who genuinely enjoy spending time together and singing together. 

In other words, if you feel any interest in music ministry at all, I don’t want fears about not being good enough or not having enough time to scare you off! It is genuinely exciting to me every time someone takes the step to just try things out. This ministry is about being willing to give, receive, and learn along the way, not being perfect to begin with! With that being said, I want to give you a quick overview of various ways to get involved.

Funeral Choir: This is a very simple come-as-you can group. If you’re around during weekday or Saturday mornings when there’s a funeral scheduled, feel free to come up to the choir loft and sing. There is no rehearsal and no expectation that you have to consistently show up at every funeral to sing. If you’re available, enjoy singing, and want to participate in this ministry to families, come when you are able. It’s a really beautiful and important ministry to celebrate our hope in the Resurrection as we remember our loved ones. 

Adult Choir: The community of people in this choir is reason enough to join! We’ve had a couple new people join each year I’ve been here, and every time, it’s awesome to see how the group dynamic develops. The best part about the group is the consistency; we get to see each other every week for rehearsals and every Sunday for Mass (although members can come as they are able), so the amount of growth that happens is really encouraging. I consistently get feedback that this has helped choir members be more present and involved in the Mass, helped them to connect to God by praying through music, and given them an outlet for their own time during the week. 
Rehearsals: Men meet on Thursday 9/12 at 7:15 and Thursday 9/19 at 7:00. 
        Women meet on Wednesday 9/11 & 9/18 at 7:30. 
        Full group rehearsal on Wednesday 9/25 at 7:30

Children’s Choir: Over the past year, we shifted the focus away from simply preparing a monthly Mass toward cultivating prayer and praise. Music is such a powerful way to experience God’s love and to praise Him and show love in return, and in the already-busy lives of students, singing to God should be freeing, not just another item on the to-do list. For that reason, we will continue a schedule of separate 2-4th grade and 5th-8th grade rehearsals with joint worship and adoration once each month. The children’s choir will also sing for 4:30 Christmas Eve, 10:30 Easter Sunday, and 4:30 First Communion Mass this year. This group is open to public, Catholic school, and homeschool students, and rehearsals begin in October.

High School Youth Band: Music is consistently one of the most powerful aspects of an encounter with the Lord on retreats and conferences. This group fosters the ability to continue to grow in that form of prayer. To work with the ever-busy schedule of high school students, we meet 45 minutes before 10:30 Mass to rehearse. We sing once a month, and students can be updated about the group by emailing me at kayla.mhtmusic@gmail.com. 

Cantors & Accompanists: If you are looking to sing for Mass or play piano/organ, I am happy to work with you and coach you through that process. I never throw anyone right in to do Masses by themselves; I will walk with you through things and help you learn and gain confidence. To discuss opportunities, please email me at kayla.mhtmusic@gmail.com. 

Thank you, and I hope to see some new faces soon!

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This past spring the parish rolled out the new safe environment program from the diocese, the kNOw Program. One of the main principles of The kNOw Program is parent involvement. The responsibility of our children’s safety should not rest primarily on children. We cannot assume that our kids won't be exposed to a difficult situation. This program is designed to empower students to recognize unsafe situations and behaviors, do what they can to leave that situation, and then report what happened. And it also teaches parents how to best respond if their child says something to them about feeling unsafe. 

This means that our new program will be presented in a new way, outside the classroom. At least one parent will need to attend this training along with their student. Because children and their parents are going through this together, it encourages the students to view their parents as trusted advocates which in turn promotes open communication about this sensitive topic. 

The feedback we received last spring was overwhelmingly positive. I asked Andrea Scheneider and Cari Smith to briefly share their experience as parents going through this program with their kids. They said:

What I liked best about the kNOw program was that parents and their children had the opportunity to view the content together. It was so valuable being able to hear what they were being taught and then be able to speak the same language to them.  I felt way more equipped to speak to my children about these important topics and it has generated good conversation. (Andrea Schneider)

I enjoyed how the kNOw program emphasized that all parts of the person are special and should be taken care of, including your soul, feelings, and body.  It gave us, as parents, many ways to talk to our boys about dealing with disrespectful relationships and protecting them physically on many age appropriate levels.  I love that it gave students scripts to use, and adults to listen for, in the event of a potentially hard or difficult discussion. (Cari Smith)

Their comments reflect much of what I heard from other parents as well. One of the most valuable parts of having parents go through this program with their children is that it creates a shared experience and shared vocabulary that helps parents have these difficult but important conversations with their kids later on. Also, the more adults who attend this class, the more we have “community immunity" against abuse. That is, the more people in our community who know what safe and unsafe adult-child relationship looks like the more protected everyone's children are.

However, along with these benefits of having students attend with their parents comes a real concern, namely, because we are no longer showing the safe environment program in the classroom there will be students who, at least at first, don’t see this program at all. To address that concern the parish is trying to make the kNOw Program as convenient and accessible as possible for parents and families. Instead of only showing this program once a year we will be offering it every month throughout the school year. We have a team of trained presenters who will lead this program on the third Wednesday of every month at 7:00pm in the Msgr. Koenigsknecht Hall (school basement). Those dates are:

September 18 for 6th-8th grade students
October 16 for 3rd-5th grade students
November 20 for K-2nd grade students
December 18 for 6th-8th grade students
January 15 for 3rd-5th grade students
February 19 for K-2nd grade students
March 18 for 6th-8th grade students
April 15 for 3rd-5th grade students
May 20 for K-2nd grade students

The parish also asks you for three things in order to address this concern. First, and most important, please pray for our children’s safety and for the Church to continue working to keep the most vulnerable of her members safe. Second, if you have children in Kindergarten - 8th grade please make a point of attending these classes with your kids this year. You can find more details and RSVP to any of these classes here: http://www.mhtparish.com/know-program-safe-environment Finally, if you have seen positive fruits in your family from this program please talk about it with others. By encouraging other families to attend we can help keep all of our kids safe. 

Thank you for your help in creating a parish and community where protecting children is a top priority.

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