Parish/Church
Immaculate Conception - St. Mary - Florence
Date and Mass time
April 19, 2015 – 8:30AM Mass
Celebrant
Rev. Matthew W. Settle
Pastoral Leader: Mrs. Christine Gall
The trip there and back
This was a GREAT trip as we traveled north of Crystal Falls, MI to the Paint River Landing (PRL) to do some wireless networking for my boss BJ and his wife Katie at their new lodge. As we were only 20 minutes north of Florence, it was a great opportunity to visit the northernmost parish in the Diocese of Green Bay.
We went up to the PRL on Saturday and arrive after lunch, had a drink, checked in, took a walk around the grounds and then did some “work”. The work wasn’t going well so we took a drive around the area and then had dinner at the landing. AWESOME prime rib! Too full to do much more than have a drink after that and call it a day.
We were up early on Sunday to make it to the 8:30am Mass and then took a drive around Crystal Falls on the way back. Nice little town! Then we had breakfast back at the PRL (awesome!) and then it was back to work. Most likely it was attending Mass, but work went MUCH better after that and we had the wireless up and running by 3:30pm.
The drive home, as it always is with the drive home after a great weekend, was quiet, but we sure did have a great weekend!
Weather
Saturday driving up and at the PRL was great with sunshine and temps in the 70’s. Sunday was cooler, cloudy, and we had some spotty rain. They need rain up there as much as we do back home, but it did not amount to much. The area was greening up, but we were a little surprised to see some remaining snow in sheltered areas.
Parish History
The website and Facebook pages have no histories listed, but I would have to think this is a parish with a very rich history. I hope someday they write it down so it is not lost.
The little I know about the parish now is that Fr. Matt is known as the priest of the “northwoods” and serves this parish as well as St. Anthony in Niagara, St. Margaret in Pembine, and Sacred Heart in Aurora. I’m not sure of the merger/linkage status of the parishes, but Saturday/Sunday snowstorms in January must make Fr. Matt’s travels quite a challenge!!! But I am sure they are all very used to it in the “northwoods” and take it all in stride!
Reflections
This is a pretty small parish, and from the outside as we drove by on Saturday (to make sure we knew where it was) it didn’t look like much. But as soon as we arrived on Sunday we felt a sense of welcome. The decorations were simple but very beautiful and just so very fitting. The building isn’t a typical "church" style with a steeple or brick or stained glass, and you could guess that maybe budgets aren’t big here, but it was so clean and well-kept you could tell it was a very Holy place of God. As we sat down, I whispered to Kay that “I like it here”. She whispered back “So do I”.
Fr. Matt is now sporting a very large bushy beard to go with his short hair, so that was a bit of a shock, but it fits him well. He is a very reverent and devoted priest and it showed in the Mass and especially in his homily in which he asked us to consider what God’s plan was for each of us.
During part of his homily he mentioned that in times of prayer he would have a fleeting moment of a sense of “great understanding” and having "all" the answers bestowed on him. I think he noticed that I smiled at his description in that I have also felt that, and its sense of loss when it fades away.
During Mass we also welcomed Nathan, a young man in the parish, on his path toward baptism and full communion into the church. That is something you don’t always get to see, so that was special.
Mrs. Gall, the pastoral leader, was also very much a part of the Mass and quite wonderful in her joy and love. We assume she was a Sister but the website has her listed as “Mrs” so we were wrong, but I think the parish is very lucky to have her and Fr. Matt in their midst.
A wonderful opportunity to worship and pray with this parish!
Pictures
