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What are the best flowers to get mom on Mother's Day? I’ll let you think about it 😊 I was watching a few highlights from this year's 2026 Oscars when an incredible acceptance speech by Jessie Buckley floored me. In her speech, she celebrated the “beautiful chaos” and the “complex heart” of a mother, dedicating her win to the experience of motherhood. She thanked her husband, calling him an “incredible dad, her best friend,” and her desire to have 20,000 more babies with

Dear Parishioners, This weekend, we celebrate Mary's May crowning. May Crowning is a ritual in which an image or statue of Mary is crowned with a wreath of flowers and honored as the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God. Honestly, this is not just something from our childhood or a parish tradition — it is a theological act, a prayer in itself. To crown Mary is to acknowledge what the Church has always believed: that she who said yes to God deserves our highest honor — not

Saint of the Month, Saint George! From a Legend of St. George: In the year 280, in a town in Cappadocia, a great soldier and champion of the oppressed was born — the man we now call St. George. His parents were Christians, and they, especially his mother, carefully instructed and trained him in the faith. When he reached the age of seventeen, he took up the profession of arms. Because he was gifted with good looks, intelligence, and fine manners, he rose quickly to a high

Dear Parishioners, First off, congratulations to our First Holy Communicants! It was a joy to have five young ladies and gentlemen receive Jesus on Divine Mercy Sunday! Second, we are quickly approaching the end of another school year, and I wanted to let you know about some upcoming events at the parishes. See below for details. May Crowning: May 3rd Ascension Thursday (Holy Day of Obligation): May 14th St. Mary Dedication Day celebration: June 7th – 8:00 am Mass with part

Dear Parishioners, A Blessed Divine Mercy Sunday! Today our second graders will receive their First Holy Communion during Sunday Masses. We are reminded through this celebration of that moment of when we have the greatest union with Christ in the Eucharist. It is a true expression of God's Mercy (Jn 3:16) that we receive the very body and blood of the Son of God. In that Mercy, God was not content to sit back but to remain actively engaged to communicate His love and pr

Dear Parishioners, He is Risen! Today, Christians from all over the world will visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Tomb of Christ. The same place Mary Mag-dalene encountered the angel and became the first witness to the Resurrection. Now we are invited to be witnesses like her to the world to share the Good News that Christ is Risen. That, unlike the false hopes of the world, which don’t last, Christ has provided a hope that lasts into eternity. In that same hope, it

Dear Parishioners, Throughout the Christian world, thousands of individuals will be brought into the Catholic faith through baptism at the Easter vigil. Are parish joins in the celebration with Mother Church as this year we have John Cantrall joining the Church. John, his wife Joni, and their six children have been a part of our parish community for over 20 years. It is with great joy that we welcome John into the fulness of Christ's life, death, and resurrection through

Dear Parishioners, Thank you to everyone who helped put together the Pancake Breakfast and to those who joined us this Sunday! Due to last week's winter storm, we have rescheduled our fundraiser to this weekend and appreciate your support and understanding. We are working to fund our Stained-Glass Windows at St. Mary and are at $57,000 pledged toward our $70,000 goal! This fundraiser will go a long way toward completing this project and preparing us for our third stage o

Dear Parishioners, Happy Solemnity of St. Joseph, our patronal feast day! As we celebrate St. Joseph in the midst of Lent, we are invited to celebrate as a family the providential purpose of our lives. That our divine Father, from all eternity, choose to place us within the family of His choosing that would provide the surest path for our salvation. All has been accounted for by the Father. Our weakness, strengths, environment, relationships, and the effects of our fall

Dear parishioners, Congratulations to our confirmandi! It is with great joy that we will be celebrating Confirmation this Tuesday for both St. Joseph and St. Mary parishes with Bishop James D. Conley. Even though we only celebrate Confirmation every three years. This year we have twenty-two confirmandi receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit! What an incredible gift to have so many young people in our parish. I am excited to have the bishop be present to our communi

Dear Parishioners, It has been nearly ten years since our last pictorial parish directory was published in 2016, and much has changed in our parish families. I have been in contact with Universal Church Directories, which have been putting together Church directories over the last 23 years. With our updating of parishioner information last summer, it is the perfect time for us to update our pictorial parish directory. An updated directory is more than a collection of nam

Saint of the Month, St. Brigid of Ireland, Abbess (one of our stained-glass windows!) Saint Brigid of Kildare, also known as Brigid of Ireland, was born around 450 AD in Faughart, near Dundalk in County Louth, Ireland. Her mother, Brocca, was a Christian slave from Portugal who had been baptized by Saint Patrick, while her father, Dubhthach, was a pagan chieftain of Leinster. From her earliest years, Brigid displayed exceptional piety and charity, often giving away her fathe

Dear Parishioners, It's good to be back from Mexico City and the experience of being with the homeless. We had 22 people on the mission, including our own Lisa Verana! It was a whirlwind of events filled with intentional time with the men, women, and children of the street. I was particularly moved by the openness of the homeless to share their stories. You can hear and see their desire to be known, loved, and received by others and the Lord. It was a blast to be outsi

Dear parishioners, I will be leaving next Thursday on a mission trip to Mexico City with Hope of the Poor. The trip involves time spent with the poor of Mexico City, visits to the shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe, and growing in community with our group! Several of our parishioners have already experienced the depth of this mission, and I pray you may join it one day. When I return, we will be one week from Lent beginning! So just as a quick reminder that during our Lent t

Dear Parishioners, Over the last year our diocese and parishes have been actively working to begin a new model of catechetical formation for marriage. The new model, "Witness to Love" is more than just marriage preparation. It is a virtues-based, Catechumenate model of marriage formation. Central to its approach is the incorporation of a mentor couple, chosen by the engaged couple who are actively living their Catholic Faith. The program emphasizes relationship building,

Saint of the Month, St. John Bosco! John Bosco, also known as Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco and Don Bosco, was born in Becchi, Italy, on August 16, 1815. His birth came just after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, which ravaged the area. At the age of two, John lost his father, leaving him and his two older brothers to be raised by his mother, Margherita. His "Mama Margherita Occhiena" would herself be declared venerable by the Church in 2006. Raised primarily by his mother, Joh

Dear Parishioners, It has been a whirlwind of activities here at St. Joseph and St. Mary’s over the last 18 months as your pastor. I am continually humbled by your zeal for Christ and the desire for greater devotion to the Eucharist and in sharing the joy of the Gospel. Since arriving at the parishes, the most frequent request I have received has been a return to the full use of the altar rail for the distribution of the Most Sacred Body of Christ. With the help of various

Dear Parishioners, A blessed New Year to you all! I hope you all have had a restful Christmas and New Year! I recently visited Fr. Winter and Fr. Beardslee in Minden, NE where we spent time relaxing, cooking, and playing board games! I highly recommend a new game SETI if you are into space and enjoy more complex games. We also played "Take Time" , a much easier and less complex game that is a cooperative game where players either win or lose together. To succeed, you mus

Dear Parishioners, With this two-week bulletin, we will be entering the last week of Advent and beginning the Christmas liturgical season! It is with great joy that I wish you all a Blessed, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I am truly grateful to all of you for an incredible year. I offer my sincerest thanks to each of you for the many ways in which you continue to support our parish! More impressive is the manner in which I witness your faith, trust, and growth in

Dear Parishioners, A Blessed Gaudete Sunday to you all! Celebrated on the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday is a joyful pause amidst the penitential season—a time to rejoice. The Latin word "Gaudete" means "rejoice," taken from Philippians 4:4: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice." This day shifts the Advent focus momentarily from penance to joy as the birth of Christ draws nearer. Joy is fundamental to Christian life because it's rooted in the assuran