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It was a covert operation. Outfitted in our black hats and hoodies, my then-eight-year-old son and I took off on our mission: to deliver a Christmas tree to our friend Sharon. She had decided to forgo having a Christmas tree that year since she’d be away visiting out-of-state family. When Jay overheard us talking and she mentioned she didn’t have a tree, he was horrified, indignant even, in the starry-eyed, Christmas-waiting way that eight-year-olds can be. “But Sharon must have a tree! It’s just not right!”

Liz Ryan is one of those people who lights up a room with her ever-present smile and endless positivity. So much so that her exuberance makes some people suspicious. “What is it that you do that makes you happy all the time,” is a question Liz says she gets asked a lot. Her response? “It’s God. Not a big secret — knowing his joy is my joy.”

Just eight years ago, Deacon Don Bouchard, D.O., and his late wife, Theresa, created Holy Family Healthcare as a mobile unit. Their mission was to serve the migrant and local communities with Catholic-based family healthcare, treating the whole person. Now, thanks to the generosity of donors and a matching grant from Catholic Extension, the organization is operating from its new 4,000-square-foot offices in downtown Hartford, increasing its capacity to serve surrounding communities.

Hundreds of households in our nine-county diocesan area face difficult decisions between having heat and paying for other necessities like food or medicine each winter. From its inception in the early 1980s until now, the Home Heating Assistance Program has given more than $2.2 million and aided more than 13,000 families in our diocese to make that decision a little easier.

“It's so awesome — can we tell people about this?!" That was Heather Hicks’ question after learning about the online faith formation courses offered through the diocese’s Institute of Missionary Discipleship (IMD). The newly appointed Director of Religious Education for St. Cyril Parish, Nashville, was embarking on completing her catechist certification and was enthralled with the online courses, which are offered through a partnership with Franciscan University of Steubenville.

The daily life of a priest may surprise you. If you’re Father José Haro, activities can range from celebrating Mass to unclogging a toilet to even contending with a wild turkey. In this diocesan “Year of Priestly Spiritual Renewal and Prayer for Vocations,” I caught up with Father José, the pastor of St. Mary Parish, Kalamazoo, and Director of Vocations for the Diocese to get a better glimpse into a day in the life of a priest.

This year’s two distinguished honorees of the Bishop Paul V. Donovan Founder’s Society Award for Outstanding service are Msgr. Michael Hazard, Vicar General and hospital chaplain, and Margaret Mary (Peggy) Gallagher, retired religious education director of St. Joseph Parish, St. Joseph. Honorees are chosen who exemplify tireless service in the name of Jesus and who reflect a love for God through service to the Catholic Church and the members of the Body of Christ. The 2022 recipients were honored during the Feast of St. Augustine Mass on Aug. 28, 2022, at St. Augustine Cathedral, Kalamazoo.

You know that feeling when it’s just easier to do something than not do it?” For most of us, that probably means everything from completing a mundane chore to answering an email. For Theresa McFall, that was the simple explanation for why she volunteered her nursing skills at one of the nation’s COVID-19 hotspots, for the Congregation of Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Assisi (commonly known as the Felician Sisters).

When Kevin and Jane Sutton heard a priest mention Catholic Charities’ food distribution ministry, they knew it was just the help they were seeking.

Stewardship. The word conjures immediate images. For some it’s synonymous with fundraising. For others the word’s meaning is rooted in the three “t’s”: time, talent and treasure. And for others, it’s careful attention to all the gifts entrusted to us. For Marci McCarthy stewardship is a way of life — one that can’t be explained by a single idea, sentence or pithy meme or quote.

Diocese Honors Bishop James A. Murray (1932 – 2020)

El pasado 5 de junio del 2020 el Obispo James A. Murray murió y fue al encuentro de Nuestro Señor. El Obispo Murray nació el 5 de julio de 1932 en Jackson, Michigan. Se graduó de St. Mary High School en Jackson, Michigan y obtuvo su grado universitario de Bachiller en Artes del Seminario el Sagrado Corazón en Detroit. Sus otros títulos académicos fueron Bachiller en Teología del Seminario San Juan de la Universidad Católica de América y Licenciatura en Derecho Canónico de la Universidad Católica de América.

Bishop Murray had a great heart for the Hispanic community. He was the one who started the Masses in the migrant camps. Each summer he celebrated several Masses in the fields and welcomed the farmworkers who each summer come to the nine counties of the diocese for the harvest. He always had a great smile and simplicity for the families.

March 2020 certainly lived by the old adage and “roared in like a lion.” What followed only amplified as the faithful grappled with all the challenges of the pandemic, which impacted all aspects of daily life from how we get groceries to how we do our jobs. And of course included on that list is how we practiced our faith. We’ve highlighted just a few of the many ways Bishop Bradley, diocesan staff, priests, deacons, parish staffs and Catholic Charities continued the work of the Church:

It’s a rare block of uninterrupted time on Don Bouchard’s calendar when we sit down together at Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo’s offices. The busy physician not only guides the agency as its Executive Director, but he also runs his six-year-old practice, Holy Family Healthcare, and serves in his diaconate ministry for St. Augustine Cathedral Parish, Kalamazoo. It’s a demanding schedule that keeps him busy with stops all around Southwest Michigan, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Each Easter Vigil thousands of people across the world enter into full communion with the Church through the sacraments of initiation. Southwest Michigan Catholic interviewed Jessica Woods, a 27-year-old Ferris State University pharmacy student and parishioner of St. Mary Parish, Marshall, who was baptized and confirmed into the Catholic Church last year.

Living the Mission of the Eucharist - For a group of neighborhood children, living the mission of the Eucharist meant turning an otherwise ordinary summer day into a way to help other children.

Living the mission of the Eucharist - Last month, Bishop Paul J. Bradley began the first of 26 pastoral visits to the 26 Parish Collaboratives in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. The first stop on the “Loving God and Your Neighbor” pastoral tour was on Feb. 28 when Bishop Bradley visited St. Mark Parish, Niles. The day began with a series of meetings with Parish and Finance council members as well as the clergy serving St. Mark’s. The day also included the celebration of the Vigil Mass followed by a parish dinner featuring a talk by Bishop Bradley. The pastoral visit concluded with Benediction.