Ireland or Bust!

Friends

Peace be with you. 

This is the first chance I’m having to write a column in 2024 so please know that I’m praying for you all to have a very happy New Year. I’m working on getting individual thank you notes out to people right now but, in the meantime, I want to genuinely thank all those who remembered me this Christmas season. In many ways, it was more exhausting than normal with Christmas and New Years taking place on a Monday after big congregations at our Sunday Mass. But, your support and encouragement kept me celebrating in joy. I have a bad feeling that, despite my meticulous record keeping, I will miss someone in my personal replies so, if that is the case, please know it is not meant to be personal. I really do appreciate those that gave me big and small gifts this Christmas season as well as the sweets that helped me gain 10 pounds in December. Thankfully, lenten fasting is just right around the corner, right?

At the weekend Masses after Christmas, I announced that I’ll be taking a pilgrimage in September of this year. I plan to go to Ireland. If you’d like more information, here’s a link you can click on to read more about it. https://www.206tours.com/cms/johnston/ireland/ I’m excited to go on this pilgrimage for many reasons, not the least of which is how amazing my previous pilgrimage was. Ireland is a beautiful country with a lot of good Catholic history associated with it and beautiful churches. I hope, if you can afford it, you’ll consider joining me from September 2-11, 2024. 

Next year, we are planning a more local pilgrimage involving Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and a visit to our seminarian, Jacob Francois, at Mundelein Seminary. More on that after we get back from Ireland!