Fr. Todd Bulletin Article 8/23/26

Dear Sacred Heart and St. Mary on the Lake,

Just a reminder that you are welcome to visit Sacred Heart school after Masses this weekend if you would like to see how it looks with the window project wrapped up. It is great!

I have included this Biography from Harrison. He will be moving in later this week. As a heads up- he does have a nut allergy, particularly peanuts and pistachios.

“Hello everyone, my name is Harrison Bertram. I am 24 years old and was born and raised in the small town of Fowler, Michigan. There, I grew up with two older brothers and a younger sister. We lived a relatively normal Catholic lifestyle praying before meals and bedtime, and going to Mass on Sundays. All of us were baptized as infants and received our Sacraments of initiation (Eucharist and Confirmation) through the religious education program in Fowler. While in school I played basketball and baseball and really enjoyed hanging out with my close friends on Friday evenings.

After high school I worked at the local Dollar General before moving to a factory in the neighboring town. I have been in the same plant where I have worked three different jobs with my most recent being an electrician for the company’s facility and machinery (robot repair and maintenance). I’m going on four years in this position with about fifteen community college courses under my belt but something still seemed to be missing.

After my Confirmation in 2018, I unfortunately decided to resist the faith and pursue a life apart from Him. Thankfully, through the Grace of God, He brought me back into the Church in 2024. During that time I had a powerful encounter with Jesus’ love and mercy in the Sacrament of Confession. Fast forward a year and I was staring at the Blessed Sacrament one early morning when I felt in my heart these words: “You could become a priest.” Of course, like any other young man who’s never considered priesthood, I shut it down instantly.

Not knowing what to do I decided to contact the vocations director for the Diocese of Lansing, Father Mike Cassar and just have a chat. He told me it could be nothing or it could be something as God works differently for everyone. After the conversation I took the summer as a diligent marriage discernment doing everything in my power to not follow this priesthood tug. I was frequenting the sacraments as much as possible and visits to the Blessed Sacrament were weekly. I was obviously unsuccessful since you are reading this!

After accepting defeat, I told the Lord what He was waiting for me to say. “Lord, I am open to what you want for my life.” This sparked curiosities and openness to start researching about the process of becoming a priest. I then learned my pastor at Most Holy Trinity was the previous vocations director so I went to him for guidance. He got me to visit the seminary in Detroit in early 2026 and recommended that I start working with the Diocese. This year wasn’t right yet for the Seminary so the Diocese recommended spending this year in a parish with the plan being to apply for the seminary in the coming spring. This is a great opportunity to grow in my trust of God and I am looking forward to all the ways I will grow during this year ahead.

I look forward to meeting all of you. It will take time to get everyone’s names correct but I’m sure I will get to know you all by the end of my stay. I would like to thank you all for your hospitality, support and prayers throughout this endeavor and especially to Fr. Todd for graciously accepting me into such a welcoming parish.”

God Bless, Fr. Todd