Our Lady of Lourdes Parish- Poplar
Spring was coming to an end, and the summer months were upon us. We had 3 children who had made their First Reconciliation back in February, and had since been continuing on with classes for Confirmation with First Eucharist. It was set to be an exciting time for everyone. In addition, there would be candidates from Culbertson and Bainville joining us. Our new Bishop; Bishop Flemming, was on the schedule to preside, and this was going to be his first visit to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.
God decided to show us just how important faith is. Our priest, Father Akama, had learned back in April that his sister had passed away very unexpectantly. He needed to return to Nigeria to lay his sister to rest and tend to family affairs. As he worked on burial plans, we also worked on Mass schedules for 3 different churches, as he serves each one.
Early Tuesday morning, on April 25th, father arrived at the airport (which is an hours drive from the rectory) only to be informed that his ticket had not gone through. This was so very disheartening. Hanging on to faith, we returned home and managed to book another flight to leave early the very next day. Father had finally made it to his home in Nigeria.
Working together and keeping the faith, the entire month of May we continued with temporary Mass adjustments for Poplar, Culbertson, and Bainville. On Saturday, May 13th, that faith shined bright! Our 3 parishes came together as one, to welcome 7 new members fully into our Catholic family. Each parish held a part in assisting at the Mass. We also took this time to crown our Holy Mother, Mary– a beautiful way to begin our Confirmation celebration.
Following Mass, everyone was invited into our parish center to not only congratulate our newest members– but to also honor our mothers with their own flower and cupcake– as the following day would be Mother’s Day.
We were so happy to have made it through that busy weekend; but we still had a little over a week before Father Akama would return. And then God decided to show us again the importance of faith. Father’s flight was delayed by 2 days in Denver. Once again we managed to book an additional return flight. Father returned Saturday, and prepared for 3 Sunday Masses.
Soon everyone began to settle into a slower month of June, as school and college was out for the summer and farmers were getting busy in the fields. Not long into July, our priest received news yet again– another sister had passed away. This was a very trying time, as he would not return to his home in Nigeria.
The month shown many different struggles for some of our parishioners. One ladies niece was admitted to the hospital as her lungs were shutting down from drug abuse. A lady who had been fighting so hard to beat her cancer, had a set back. Another lady’s grandchild continues to have set backs from seizures. Another has learned their cousin has bladder cancer and has become the caretaker as he doctors. There are more that we are aware of, and there are also those that we are not aware of. But we have learned, and continue to learn, that together we are strong.
Our parish has definitely been guided by faith in God.
