Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad

June is often a month of celebrations: end of the school year, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, vacations, and more. So it should not be surprising that it is really feeling like a month of celebrations in our parish this year.

We begin with this Sunday, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, historically known as Corpus Christi. We celebrate this core tenant of our faith, the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We especially believe that the bread and wine become His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. While this feast goes back to the twelfth century, the belief in the true presence of Christ can be traced to the Last Supper and has been maintained as a belief since the first days of Christianity. As we are seeing record numbers of people entering the Catholic Church, most tell us this teaching was what was most influential in leading them to the faith. Curiously, some polls indicate that as many as 70% of Catholics do not believe in the true presence, but recent converts offer this as being what brought them to the Church. 

This weekend we also celebrate the priestly ordination of Deacon Pat Sorrells. Deacon Pat is being ordained for service in the Diocese of Fargo. For the past four years we have served as his teaching parish as he completed his studies and formation at the Saint Paul Seminary. A nice group of parishioners are traveling to celebrate with Deacon Pat, his family, friends, and the Church in Fargo.

Immediately following this weekend we celebrate the 35^th Anniversary of the Dedication of our current Saint Patrick Church. The celebration will include Mass at 6 PM on Wednesday, June 10. (The actual anniversary date is June 9. We received permission from our Bishop to move the celebration to June 10, since we already have a Mass on Wednesday evenings.) Plan to join us as we give thanks to God for the beautiful church we have been gifted. We are grateful to those who came before most of us and saw to its construction. 

The following weekends will include a celebration of Thanksgiving when newly ordained Father Pat Sorrells returns to offer Mass for us on the Weekend of June 13-14. We celebrate the service Father Dan Tracy has given to our parish these past three years the weekend of June 20-21, as he prepares to accept a new assignment in our Diocese. The weekend of June 27-28, we celebrate our Sister Parish in Guatemala by welcoming Sister Joannes Klas, who served there many years and Bishop Rodolfo Nunez, the current Bishop in the Diocese where our Sister Parish is located. 

If the list is not long enough, we also celebrate and rejoice that Mr. James Bauer has been formally accepted as a Seminarian for the Diocese of Superior. He will begin his formation this fall at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona. Among the other Seminarians he will join is Isaac Timmerman from our parish, who will begin his second year there. James is the son of Mark and Lanida Bauer of our parish, a brother to Rita and Charlie, and a grandson of Judy Bauer. He is also a graduate of Saint Patrick School.

And finally, congratulations to Saint Patrick School, its staff, students, families, and benefactors. Saint Patrick School was recently named by St. Croix Valley Magazine in its Best of ’26, the Best Private School and the Best Preschool. We were thrilled to hear our school take home these honors. We are grateful for our loyal families who think highly of their school. 

We have much to celebrate this month. As Psalm 118, verse 24 says: “Let us rejoice and be glad.”