Published 10-13-24

FR. DAN SHAUGHNESSY

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many of you have offered very kind words to me about Fr. Skillman; he truly is a wonderfully gifted priest who shows forth the face of Jesus in all he says and does. We certainly are going to miss him; thankfully though, he will only be 10 minutes away at Immaculate Heart of Mary in New Melle. He has served this parish community beautifully and for that, we will forever be grateful. In the meantime, keep up your prayers for Fr. Detwiler and me. Navigating the reduced priestly presence will offer some challenges but we have the Holy Spirit guiding us and showing us the way. Count on that.  

Pondering the world in which we live, I’ve been thinking and praying a lot lately about how we can grow the Body of Christ. How can we truly form disciples and lead all to Christ Jesus? With that said, I want to encourage each and every one of you to put yourselves out there a little bit. Imagine if each of us invited just one person (a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor, a friend) to join us at Mass to pray together; to hear the word of God proclaimed and to worship Almighty God. As I look at the world, I see all the time how much people are longing for authentic relationships.  

Many of those folks looking for relationships often look in the wrong places and fall into addictions with things like social media, alcohol, vaping, pornography, etc. You name it. Fill in the blank. That said, those struggling with addictions are simply looking for God. Might we reach out to anyone who has fallen away for any reason to invite them into our incredible parish community here at St. Patrick?  

Might we let them see the face of Jesus through you and me?

God bless you all.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Dan Shaughnessy