Holy Family Area Catholic Community Newsletter — April 2021

ST. JA M E S

ST. ANDRE W

ST. J OS E PH

Holy Family Area CATHOLIC COMMUNITY

YOUTH PARISHIONER PROFILE

MEET COLLIN SWEDZINSKI

A Formative Journey of Faith to the Sacrament of Confirmation

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he best is yet to come.” These words are often heard in relation to some of life’s major milestones — the birth of a new baby, the first week of college, or a couple’s wedding day. It may come as a surprise, however, that this forward-looking phrase also provides an apt description for the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Catholic Church. Indeed, far from signaling an “end” to a child’s formation in the faith, Confirmation is a Sacrament of Initiation encompassing the completion of baptismal promises, the reception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the beginning of one’s full life in the Church.

Here in the Holy Family Area Catholic Community, our 11th-grade students will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this month. St. James parishioner Collin Swedzinski is looking forward to this milestone in his faith journey. Like his peers, he has been preparing for Confirmation since his sophomore year of high school.

“The sophomores and juniors from the three parishes go to Montevideo for the Confirmation classes,” Collin says. “I’ve enjoyed getting to meet new people from the three different areas and growing stronger in our faith. We watch videos, read our book and answer

Collin Swedzinski

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MEET COLLIN SWEDZINSKI questions. Sometimes we play games or do adoration or Reconciliation. Last year was my first time in adoration, and I liked that it was nice and quiet and you could think.”

Collin chose his uncle, Greg Swedzinski, to be his Confirmation sponsor.

“My Uncle Greg is my godfather, and I enjoy spending time with him,” Collin says. “He’s also very strong in his faith. When we were doing our talks, I could just sense his faith and how strongly he believes.”

Traditionally, our Confirmandi also choose a patron saint to help guide and inspire them on their faith journey. This ritual signifies the young person’s identity as a Christian and their place in the communion of saints. With a possible future career as a chiropractor in mind, Collin chose St. Raphael the Archangel, the angel of healing, to be his patron saint.

As a high school junior, Collin has witnessed firsthand the struggles that many of his peers face in today’s world. He encourages them not to lose hope and to keep the faith. Collin offers the example of a recent hunting trip — early in the morning, a newcomer downed an 11-point deer. Collin felt discouraged but told himself to keep his head up and believe that something would come his way. Sure enough, that evening, he landed an even larger buck. Now, Collin looks back on that story as a reminder that we never know what good things God may have planned for us at any given time.

Though he is busy with studies and sports at Dawson-Boyd High School, Collin still makes time to participate in parish life as an altar server and volunteer at the Fall Festival. He looks forward to receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation and continuing with an active faith life at St. James.

“I think Confirmation will make me feel stronger in my faith and closer to God,” Collin says. “Maybe a few years down the road, I will serve as an usher. I think it’s simple, but something that I could do for the church.”

Let us all rejoice in the Confirmation of Collin and

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so many of our Holy Family youth on April 10! May the gifts of the Holy Spirit they receive in this sacrament inspire them to a deeper faith, a closer walk with Christ, and a full life in the Church.

“I think Confirmation will make me feel stronger in my faith and closer to God. Maybe a few years down the road, I will serve as an usher. I think it’s simple, but something that I could do for the church.” — COLLIN SWEDZINSKI

Collin Swedzinski with his prized buck

A Letter From Our Pastor

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, IT IS RIGHT AND JUST My Dear Friends in Christ,

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very time I prepare my monthly letter to you in this newsletter, I am reminded of how blessed I am. Being a priest truly is a blessing. While the job is not always easy — a pastor has many responsibilities — the rewards are equally humbling.

As we complete our preparations and then share in our celebrations of the Triduum and Easter, I am also prompted to think about the holiest things I do.

By far, the holiest is celebrating Mass, and especially consecrating the holy bread and wine so Christ is present among us. The very word “consecration” literally means “association with the sacred.” To have that duty is incredible. I have never taken it for granted, and although it may appear at times to be somewhat automatic, it never is for me.

Almost all of us are familiar with the Mass, and with what we do and say leading up to the high point — the Eucharist. But I think we must guard against becoming too casual in our responses and what we say. That is what I work to avoid, but I believe you need to work just as diligently to make sure that you are listening, hearing and being aware of what you are saying. For us as Catholics, the Mass is the most important and sacred act in the Church.

I suppose I could write a whole series of letters or articles on the meaning of everything we say and do at Mass, but I was thinking of one exchange in particular during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It is something we may say in sort of a habitual way, but I firmly believe each of us must truly consider what we are saying.

I say to you, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” and you respond, “It is right and just.” Think about what that means, because it is very much at the heart of stewardship. I am saying we need to thank God, show gratitude for everything we are and everything with which we are gifted — and you, at least in words, acknowledge that doing that is exactly what we need to do. The Mass is filled with statements and exchanges of that sort, and I would ask that we think about what they truly mean.

Even the simple exchange between the Eucharistic Minister and you at the actual reception of the Host is heavy with meaning. We say, “the Body of Christ,” and you reply “amen.” In that instance, “amen” means “yes, I do believe this is Jesus.” Like myself, you are blessed. Sometimes we just need to realize it. Happy Easter!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Paul Timmerman, Pastor

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ALTAR SERVER MINISTRY:

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An Essential

(From left) Josue Matamoros and Sydney Hedman have both continued as altar servers at St. Joseph throughout high school. They graduate this year.

t is clear that altar servers have an important and special role in the Catholic Mass. In many ways, they “lighten the load” for our priests and deacons.

As Pope Francis stated in a 2015 address, “Serving at the altar is a privileged way to draw closer to Jesus, which in turn enables you to open yourselves to others, to journey together, to set demanding goals and to find the strength to achieve them.”

Fr. Paul Timmerman appreciates all of the altar servers in the Holy Family Area Catholic Community.

He looks forward to the day when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and we can celebrate the Mass in a more normal way once again. He misses the procession, incense and bells, to name a few.

“The ministry of altar servers is so important because then we are able to celebrate our Masses with the proper solemnity and beauty that they deserve,” Fr. Paul says.

Sydney Hedman and Josue Matamoros have been altar servers for about six years at St. Joseph. Sydney serves for English Mass and Josue serves for Spanish

Mass. As both look forward to their graduation from high school, they offered some reflection on their time serving in this important ministry.

Josue says he enjoys being an altar server because he loves to help and it has, in turn, helped him grow closer to the Lord. He steps in to help whenever Fr. Paul needs him.

“People should get involved to serve because you are serving Someone special and doing something amazing,” says Josue, who plans to study welding at Ridgewater College.

Sydney enjoys serving because it makes her more engaged in the Mass. Being an altar server all these years has also helped her understand the Mass more clearly.

“Serving is a lot of fun and you can make some great friends,” says Sydney, who plans to study social work and Spanish at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. “I have met some great people over the years.”

Fr. Paul is so thankful to Josue and Sydney and

Opportunity to Grow in Faith and Engage in the Mass their commitment throughout their years of service in this ministry. He also appreciates that they have shared their experience in the process of helping to train younger servers. When he wanted to add incense to the Mass, both were able to step up to the task with little instruction. He hopes more youth will consider stepping into this important ministry.

“Altar serving draws our youth into the deeper realities of what is happening at Mass on a spiritual level,” Fr. Paul says. “The Mass makes present, again, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and it is a foreshadowing of the worship in heaven. The Mass is the center of our faith, so to draw our youth into this beautiful mystery is always good.”

Fr. Paul also enjoys getting to know the youth of our parish. Altar serving is a great way for them to all get to know one another better.

“I tend to have the best rapport with our youth who serve Mass because we get the chance to get to know each other over time,” he says.

If your child is in fifth grade or above and would like to become an altar server, please call 320-269-5954.

St. Andrew Parish welcomes you to a teaching and exposition of Sacred Relics. Over 150 relics will be present, some as old as 2,000 years.

Among the treasures will be relics of St. Andrew, St. Joseph, St. Maria Goretti, St. Thérèse of Lisieux (the “Little Flower”), St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Faustina Kowalska.

In addition, there will also be present a piece of a veil which belonged to Our Lady, and one of the largest remaining pieces of the True Cross in the world.

St. Andrew Church 1097 Granite Street Granite Falls, MN 56241 (320) 269-5954

HELD IN THE CHURCH ON

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STEADFAST IN FAITH AND DEVOTION: St . Catherine of Siena

On April 29, we celebrate the feast day of a doctor of the Church — one who remained absolutely devoted to living her life for Christ, even in the face of familial misunderstanding in her youth, and through societal opposition and turmoil during her later years. As stewards in our fastpaced, highly technical — and often fractured — world, we can always look to the life and example of St. Catherine of Siena, and strive to remain steadfast in our faith while facing our own modern-day challenges.

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orn in mid-14th-century Italy to a large family, and in the midst of a plague outbreak, St. Catherine of Siena was her parents’ 25th child, although half of her siblings did not survive through childhood. Young Catherine resisted her family’s desire for her to marry — she even went so far as to begin fasting and cutting her hair short in protest. Her parents eventually relented, as Catherine strived to humbly serve her own family, treating her own father as Jesus, her mother as Mary, and her brothers as the apostles.

Such was Catherine’s desire to remain in service to her own family that instead of entering a convent, she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic at age 18. This enabled her to continue serving her family at home, even as she was part of a religious society. In time, she learned to read and began giving her family’s own possessions to those in need — even though her parents didn’t necessarily approve of her entirely altruistic approach to service.

Continuing with her faithful devotion as part of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Catherine developed a following of her own, as she wrote letters offering spiritual encouragement and instruction. Controversy would ensue, as her writings began to comment on public matters through her firm lens of faith.

In the midst of these spiritual developments, at age 21, Catherine underwent a profound change, as she experienced what she called her “mystical marriage to Christ.” Through this experience, she was directed to help the poor and the sick.

Catherine began serving those in need in hospitals and homes, which inspired followers to assist in these important missions of service, love and mercy. Furthermore, she continued to comment on public matters, petitioning for peace in the midst of political fracture and strife. This continued through the Great Schism,

beginning in 1378, as Catherine spent two years — the last years of her life — in Rome, praying and pleading for unity in the Church, and for the cause of Pope Urban VI.

By January 1380, Catherine was gravely ill, unable to eat or drink — shortly thereafter, she lost the use of her legs. At only 33 years old, she would pass away on April 29, 1380. She was canonized nearly a century later, in 1461.

Despite her short life, St. Catherine of Siena made a profound impact on the Church through her spiritually direct writings, her work serving those in need, and in preserving the unity of the Church in the face of great societal upheavals — all while being singularly devoted to living a life for Christ. Her status led her to be declared a co-patron of Italy (alongside St. Francis of Assisi) in 1939. And in 1970, Pope Paul VI declared St. Catherine of Siena a doctor of the Church.

ST. ANDREW LECTORS:

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Sharing the Good News at Mass

e all enjoy being the bearers of good news. When the message we have for loved ones is joyful and full of hope, everyone welcomes the feelings the message brings — whether we are hearing that message or giving it. The same can be said for the lectors who serve in the St. Andrew Lectors Ministry.

They give us messages of good news each week during Mass, telling us of God’s unfailing love for us.

Jose Pullan is one of the members of St. Andrew’s Lectors Ministry. He has served for about three years, besides also serving as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion who takes the Blessed Sacrament to the sick. Jose has plenty of experience serving as lector for it was a practice for him before emigrating to the United States. When he and his family began attending Mass at St. Andrew, he was asked to continue his service as a lector.

He also had been a college professor, teaching philosophy, so speaking before others comes easily to him.

The key to doing so is preparation.

“I’m at home reading from the pulpit,” Jose says. “Having taught philosophy gives me insight. I know when I read the Bible, I know what

I’m reading and I’m able to get what the meaning is and know who is speaking, like St. Paul. He is talking to followers.”

As he prepares for Mass, Jose first reads over the selections so he is not giving a “cold” reading. He suggests that lectors should read over the material several times and to read slowly.

“When you are on the pulpit, you should relax and go slowly

and read like you are talking to the congregation,” he says. “Read with understanding about what you are reading. Preparation means you have to know what you are reading and get to know the mind of the writer.

When you read, you are the writer who is telling the story. And, you need to practice. You can’t just go up and read. Maybe read several times or read to someone else.”

Serving as a lector has enabled not only Jose to strengthen his own faith, but also that of his family. His wife sings as a cantor and his children are altar servers. As an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, Jose is able to reach out to others who may not be able to otherwise receive the Blessed Sacrament. The family’s service allows them to live in stewardship for the Church.

“I spend a lot of time in prayer — when I go for a walk, I reflect on God and reflect on my weakness,” Jose says. “I am nothing, but knowing that what I have is due to God, I take everything in gratitude. Every day I live in gratitude. Everything is given to me. I’m nothing on my own. It’s a privilege for me to read and do what I’m doing.”

“When you are on the pulpit, you should relax and go slowly and read like you are talking to the congregation. Read with understanding about what you are reading.

Preparation means you have to know what you are reading and get to know the mind of the writer. When you read, you are the writer who is telling the story.” — JOSE PULLAN Anyone who is interested in serving as a lector at St. Andrew, contact Kim Rupp at 320-564-4204; at St. James, contact Monica Dessonville 320-226-4134; at St. Joseph, contact Janet Bosch at 320-843-4432.

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512 Black Oak Ave. Montevideo, MN 56265

www.holyfamilyarea.org

MASS TIMES: Sunday 8:30 a.m. — St. James, Dawson 10:30 a.m. — St. Joseph, Montevideo Tuesday 5 p.m. - St. Andrew, Granite Falls Wednesday 5 p.m. — St. James, Dawson

Thursday 5:30 p.m. — St. Joseph, Montevideo Friday 10 a.m. — St. Andrew, Granite Falls

Saturday 5 p.m. — St. Andrew, Granite Falls 7 p.m. — St. Joseph, Montevideo in Spanish

CONFESSION TIMES: 30 minutes before daily Mass Sunday 8 a.m. — St. James, Dawson

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Saturday 9:30 - 10 a.m. — St. Joseph, Montevideo 4:15 p.m. —St. Andrew, Granite Falls

Holy Week AN D

Easter

SCHE DUL E

Holy Thursday

7 p.m. at St. Andrew, Granite Falls (need to sign up) 7 p.m. at St. Joseph, Montevideo with elements of Spanish

Good Friday

5 p.m. at St. Andrew, Granite Falls (need to sign up) 5 p.m. at St. James, Dawson, (need to sign up) 7 p.m. at St. Joseph, Montevideo with elements of Spanish

Easter Vigil

8:30 p.m. at St. Joseph, Montevideo with elements of Spanish

Easter Sunday

8:30 a.m. at St. James, Dawson, (need to sign up) 10:30 a.m. at St. Andrew, Granite Falls (need to sign up) 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph, Montevideo

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