St. Joseph of the Lakes

Last week the Archbishop kicked off the first year of the implementation of the Parish Synod Evangelization teams.  It began with the gathering of the many “apostles” from each parish of the Archdiocese.  Each pastor throughout the Archdiocese has been called on to name up to 12 people who become the Synod Evangelization Team (SET).  For our parish I have called:  Marly Schaffhausen, Steve Million,  Darson Wiege, Lana Bries,  Joshua Bohl,  Ted Brausen, Laura Anderson, and Tanisha J. Sealey-Kessel as our “apostles”. They are taking on the role of helping to keep evangelization as one of the centers of our parish life.  From February-April: Parish Synod Evangelization Teams will attend a 7-session School of Discipleship training with a subsequent 40 day challenge. After that training they will meet with me in late April or May to plan the parish’s Expression of the 2023-24 Synod Priorities. Throughout the summer they will be recruiting small group leaders who will go through training in the Fall. 

I am grateful for their generous response to God’s call that has been issued through the Archbishop’s pastoral letter. His letter is available on-line both in written form or as a pod-cast which can be found on the Archdiocesan WEB site: https://www.archspm.org/synod/.  The Archbishop has invited us to prayerfully read his pastoral letter. I found great inspiration and comfort as I read the letter myself. I found that I could hear the Archbishop’s voice as I read the letter. I could feel his “pastoring” of his flock and I was glad to be numbered as one of the number. 

On a different note: I now have an appointment set up at the Mayo Clinic starting April 11. I have met the limits of the MN Fairview health system as I sought an appointment with a neurologist within the system. With my doctor’s referral they could get me in July 1. Even after my doctor sent a “higher priority” referral on my behalf they could only accommodate me July 1. I was put on the “wait” list and I could call every day to see if there had been a cancelation that day, but I am willing to wait until April. I think I have stabilized from the severe declines of Christmas, but I am not walking well (and only with a walker) and my legs are very numb. Thank God for the wheelchair! It was great to celebrate Mass with you last Sunday and to begin to carry out my regular schedule. I am not driving right now (I cannot feel my right foot) so any emergency anointing calls will be handled by other priests that we can get a hold of as the need arises.