A Prayer From and For Our Priest

Around this time last year, when clergy assignments were announced by the archdiocese, I shared with all of you that we would not have a parochial vicar for 2025-2026. I asked for your prayers and understanding as we navigated a year with one full-time priest.

As expected in a parish family as loving and vibrant as Mary, Queen of Peace, you came through in ways that continue to humble me each day. I am grateful to our deacons, our pastoral team, the Legionaries, and each of you for going the extra mile in ministering to one another. When there is a parishioner in need, you respond. I never have to ask; it just happens. I am also thankful for the many ways you have supported me, running errands, leaving notes, bringing meals, offering prayers. You will never know the comfort you have brought to me in the times when I needed it most.

All that being said, I come to you again, asking for your continued patience and understanding. Although assignments have not yet been announced (as of this writing), I have been informed that there is not an available priest to send to Mary, Queen of Peace this year(2026-2027) to fill the current vacancy of parochial vicar. While I share your disappointment, I know that God always provides. Together, we will continue to serve the Lord and one another, I have no doubt. Our deacons will continue to step up in ways that offer pastoral care and support. Our pastoral team is committed to the radical hospitality and
innovative excellence we are known to bring to everything we do. And for my part, I am grateful for those priests who are able to assist here.

I also humbly ask for your pardon if pastoral needs sometimes go unmet due to having only one full-time priest. I am a priest, and in that role, I represent Christ. I represent Him to you especially at Mass but also out in this world that God loves so much. When people see me out — in a restaurant, at the gas station, in a store, at the doctor’s office — they should see someone who loves as Jesus does. When you come to me seeking counsel, you are not looking for my opinion, which is as fallible and fragile as your own. You want to find the guidance and the Truth that God has given to the Church. That is why, aware of this reality, I want to ask your forgiveness for the ways that I cannot be as available as I truly desire because of current circumstances – spending more time visiting the sick and homebound, eating lunch with the school children, being able to take more appointments. If it has ever seemed that you asked for bread and I gave you a stone, I ask for your forgiveness and continued prayers.

As we move forward into another year, there are many things to be grateful for, of course. There are many parishes in the country who do not have even one full-time priest. There are priests who travel from parish to parish administering sacraments but without being rooted in the community. I am grateful to be here at MQP. This is such a beautiful and welcoming community, where you truly live as the Body of Christ, the Church made manifest, sanctifying the world “from within as a leaven.” I do not know what I what do without each of you journeying with me “along the way!”

I also ask for your intentional prayers for vocations to the priesthood – not only in general, but to pray specifically that young men in our parish family and in your own family will hear God’s call to serve Him as a priest. Remember, you get the priest you pray for! Maybe that is why you got stuck with me! One way to intentionally pray for priests from our parish is to take home the Vocations Chalice and invite your family to pray each day for vocations from Mary, Queen of Peace. Information on the chalice is available on our website or you can call the office at 985-626-6977.

Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and your love.