We welcome Fr. Emmanuel Abuh this weekend. Fr. Emmanuel will share with us some of the situation in his home diocese in Nigeria. Nigeria is a western African nation with a large and vibrant Catholic population, but a nation which is faced with issues of poverty, violence, and religious persecution. We will take a second collection to help the Church in his diocese. Write a check to St. Charles and write “Nigeria” in the memo line. Fr. Emmanuel is a well-known figure in Fort Wayne, serving now as the pastor at St. Jude.
Our school year is nearly over, and our 8th graders will graduate on Tuesday evening. Our Tuesday evening Mass will include a graduation ceremony for those students who are ready now for high school. Please note that our Tuesday evening Mass will be at 7 p.m. and not our usual 6:30 p.m. time. These students were new kindergarteners when I arrived at St. Charles, and they have grown in beautiful ways. We offer prayer for them as they move on
We will be saddened by the departure of Fr. Bobby, who leaves us to start his new role as pastor of St. Patrick, Arcola on June 16. Fr. Bobby has served here for three years with energy, wisdom and grace. As we announced last week, we are now happy to have a replacement coming. Fr. Drew Curry will be our new priest at St. Charles. Fr. Drew is originally from South Bend. With 18 years of experience in the priesthood, he is now serving at Immaculate Conception Parish in Auburn. Fr. Drew is a longtime friend and a priest of spiritual depth and humility. He will be a great asset to our parish.
You will soon see another new face around the parish. Seminarian Mason Bailey will arrive this week to serve at St. Charles for the summer. Mason comes from Most Precious Blood Parish and he is studying at St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana. Please introduce yourself, invite him to dinner, and make him welcome at St. Charles.
We are coming very close to an historic day for our parish. Two of our parish sons, Deacon Sam Martinez and Deacon Noah Isch, will be ordained priests on June 6. Mark your calendar and join us for the Mass of Ordination at the Fort Wayne Cathedral, 11:00 on June 6. Both will celebrate their First Mass the following day at St. Charles. Father Sam will celebrate our 9:00 Mass and Fr. Noah will preside at the 11:00 Mass on June 7.
