Friday, March 28, 2025
In this week's parish eNewsletter, Fr. Justin shares what happened and his thoughts regarding the disruption before Mass last Sunday.
In this newsletter, you will also find many ways for you and even your children, to volunteer to participate in some charitable acts of Mercy. There are many worthwhile events coming up, too. The Easter Mass times are published, and peruse to the end to find, Confession times, and Lenten resources for praying with our Lord's passion.
Dear Parishioners,
Some of you may have experienced or heard about a disturbing incident that occurred right before the start of our 11 am Mass last Sunday, March 23rd. A man we did not recognize had, without any invitation or permission, started giving a sort of passionate speech on the Our Father prayerand some social and political topics. The nature of the content was not necessarily inappropriate, but this man had no authority to be giving an unplanned speech from the ambo, and it was naturally disruptive as we needed to start Mass. I went up to the ambo and gently asked the man to step away from the ambo, but he completely ignored me, at which time I gently tried to pull him away to the side so I could talk to him. At this point, he became noticeably excited, raised the tone of his voice while he continued on with his speech, and then when I more strongly tried to pull him away from the ambo, he pushed/elbowed me away. At this point, several parishioners promptly came forward to assist me with forcibly removing him from the sanctuary, for which I am very thankful. When we managed to remove him from the sanctuary, we were able to determine that he was not a threat, that he was not there to cause anyone harm, and that he saw himself as a protestor and/or evangelist. I have determined his identity and have confirmed this to be the case after talking with some of his family. That being said, he was incredibly disruptive, caused many of our parishioners grave concern since they didn't know his intentions, and created a scene that was jarring and distracting. The police were called, the man was questioned, and things have been resolved.
Perhaps I would have done well to comment at that Mass regarding the incident, but I wanted to collect my thoughts, process the information I had, and not make any rash statements that would prove to be inaccurate. Unfortunately, because of the lack of information I provided, the story has gotten somewhat distorted, which is why I wanted to make sure we are all on the same page.
Most importantly, I do not want anyone to be afraid or to stay away from Mass out of fear for their safety. The enemy would love to use this disturbance to sow fear, but we must resist this natural reaction. Even though this man had no ill intent, please know that we have a plan in place to make sure that our parishioners are protected, that we have vigilant watchers, and that our campus is secured more than ever, thanks in part to the improvement to our school entrance last year.
I am blessed to be your pastor, and I look forward to the many good things the Holy Spirit is accomplishing here at our parish!
In Christ,
Fr. Justin Hamilton
Women of the parish: There is still time to plan to make a retreat this weekend.
Fr. Tom Tank will be honored
April 5th
as part of the Abbott's Table Gala. Read the story in
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"I have been meditating on the story of the prodigal son. It is a story about returning. I realize the importance of returning over and over again. My life drifts away from God. I have to return. My heart moves away from my first love. I have to return. My mind wanders to strange images. I have to return. Returning is a lifelong struggle. . . . I am moved by the fact that the father didn’t require any higher motivation. His love was so total and unconditional that he simply welcomed his son home."