I am very excited to invite you to our Parish Mission. Bishop Fernand Cheri, OFM, a noted preacher of parish missions and revivals, will lead a Lenten mission April 1-3, 2019 here at the Church of the Transfiguration. Bishop Cheri will preach at all the weekend masses on March 30-31. He is now the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, but has had wide ministry experience in the South and Midwest. He will have presentations each evening from 7:00 PM to about 8:30 PM on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, April 1-3.
In over 40 years as a priest, Bishop Cheri has served as pastor of parishes in Louisiana and Tennessee. He was a campus minister at Xavier University, New Orleans, and Quincy University in Illinois. In Chicago, New Orleans, and Belleville, Illinois, his ministry focused on Catholic High Schools.
Bishop Cheri studied at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, and in 1978 was ordained for that Archdiocese. He later followed his call to become a Franciscan and for over 25 years has been a member of the Sacred Heart Province, based in St. Louis.
He is the Episcopal Moderator for the Catholic Campus Ministry Association, the Episcopal Moderator for the Black and Indian Mission Office African American Newsletter, and the convener of the African American Bishops. He has served on the Bishops’ Subcommittee on Black Catholic Worship.
Bishop Cheri has a great interest in music, especially Gospel music, and has contributed articles to books on the topic. His testimony is “My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection.” (2 Cor 12:9). The theme of the mission will be Encounter! and based on several passages from the Gospel of St. Luke.
Please feel free to invite your family and friends to share this experience with us. We will need some help with parking assistants, greeters and ushers. You can volunteer through the signup sheet in the Gathering Space. In the meantime, please pray for God’s blessing on Bishop Cheri and all who participate that this Mission will help them encounter God’s love and mercy.
Fr. Jeff