My Dear People,
     These past few weeks have been busy settling into these new parishes.  Together with Hank Messing, I have been meeting staff members and a few people of the parishes and striving to get to know where things are and how things have functioned in the parish over the years.  Our biggest task is to get parish offices spaces figured out and to settle into them.  We have been striving to do so at Christ the Good Shepherd Parish and we will proceed to do so at St. John Paul II Parish.  We have established set office hours so that people can come in to the parish to conduct business.  We will have limited daily office hours until September, then evaluate it, and make adjustments as needed.  We have also had meetings with the joint Pastoral and Finance Councils at each parish site.  These have been good meetings so as to get introduced to each other and to hear about the parish from these Councils members.
   Now that these introductions are done and some immediate plans are underway, I am going on vacation.  Several opportunities for small breaks over the past three months were cancelled due to the Covid19 outbreak.  Now I am truly ready for a good break which will begin tomorrow and go through August 4, returning in time for the 6:30 p.m. Mass at St. John Paul II Parish.  I am looking forward to this break from all the Diocesan work, Parish work, and transitioning and just rest, relax and rejuvenate.  Msgr. Frank Koper, a retired priest from St. Cyril & Methodius Seminary, Orchard Lake, who resides in Gladwin, will be celebrating the weekend Masses for the next two weeks.  Please give him a warm welcome.  There will be no weekday Masses for the next two weeks in either parish.
     Thank you for the warm welcome and support for me and Hank as we transition into the parishes.  It is greatly appreciated.  It is so good to see you at Church and I look forward to the day when I can meet those who are not able to come to Church at this time.  I look forward to the chance one day to visit with you face to face, rather than mask to mask.  Be assured of my prayers for you over these next two weeks and I sincerely appreciate your prayers for me.
                                                                       Fr. Bill