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Dear Brothers & Sisters
We have two funerals of beloved parishioners this week: Leesha Simpson & Shirley McGinnis. As the numbers attending will be restricted it will be of much support to their families to know that others in the parish are praying for them. The funerals will be live-streamed on our MCNmedia.tv website.
John de Brebeuf & Isaac Jogues (Monday) were just two of the Jesuit priests who 350 years ago gave their lives in service of mission to the Huron, Iroquois and Mohawk Indians. The site of their martyrdom is now a national shrine in Canada, and the 1991 Holly wood movie Black Robe was very loosely based on their story.
Daudi Okelo & Jilldo Irwa (Tuesday) were two teenage catechists of the Acholi tribe in Uganda. Born to non-Christian families & instructed by Italian missionaries, they were martyred in 1918 for bravely professing their Christian faith.
Pope John Paul II (Thursday) was declared a saint by Pope Francis just six years ago. Many in our parish can still recall his visit to Britain in 1982. And those of us who have seen him face to face will always treasure the experience.
John of Capistrano (Friday) was a 15th century Franciscan who died of bubonic plague in Croatia. His anti-Islam & anti-Jewish sentiments belong to a less enlightened age, but his courage in the face of suffering still teach us much.
Anthony Mary Claret (Saturday) was a Catalan from Barcelona sent as a missionary bishop to Cuba nearly 150 years ago. His dedication to the rights of the poor, education of children and clergy, and his opposition to corruption earned him many enemies. He survived over 11 assassination attempts before he was recalled to Spain! Among his many legacies was the Claretian Order of priests and brothers who carried on his ministry by educating the clergy and the young and using modern media. He is the patron saint of weavers, the trade he practiced as a teenager in Barcelona.
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