Parishioners Mike And Mary Thomas: Trusting in the Merciful Jesus and Serving with Great Love

Sometimes, when you ask God for something, He responds unexpectedly. This was most certainly the case for St. Paul’s parishioners Mary and Mike Thomas! Having been acquaintances in high school in Foley, Minn., they didn’t stay in contact after graduation. Mary began working as a nursing assistant at a hospital in St. Cloud and married her husband, John, in 1964. The couple moved to Sauk Centre and had two children. They were active at St. Paul’s in a variety of different ways, from bringing Communion to the homebound, to being active in the Divine Mercy prayer group. But in 2009, John passed away.

“Sometime after John passed away, I was sitting in our sunroom praying,” Mary says. “I had John’s picture on one side of me and the merciful Jesus picture on the other — I looked at them and I said, ‘You know, John, Fr. Todd said you are more available to me now than you were when you were living on earth, so you talk to the merciful Jesus and you find me somebody that can make me laugh again.’ That was my prayer, and then I let it go.”

Not long afterward, Mary found herself at her 50th high school reunion, with an old friend joining her table. Mike was living in Colorado, but happened to be in town and decided to attend the event, despite not having a formal invitation.

“When he got back to Colorado, he started sending me little cards and stuff, and he called me and we started conversing,” Mary says.

After a year, Mike had moved back to Minnesota and his annulment was complete. One day, they went to chat with Fr. Greg and ended up leaving his office planning a wedding the following month. They were married on April 11, Divine Mercy Sunday, at a parish Mass.

“It all fell in place just wonderfully,” Mary says of their wedding, which involved both her and Mike’s children, as well as children from Holy Family School, where the couple volunteered with the lunch program.

Today, Mike and Mary love to use their time of retirement to give back to the parish community. Mike returned to his faith upon connecting with Mary and jumped back into the life of the parish with both feet.

“I was away from the Church for 10 or 15 years and until I re-met Mary, then I came back,” Mike says. “I’ve always jumped in with both feet — that’s kind of the way I am.”

The Thomases are now Eucharistic Ministers, greeters, wash the altar linens, and teach faith formation to children. They are also involved in several prayer ministries, praying with those who are dying through the NODA (No One Dies Alone) Ministry, those experiencing spiritual warfare through the Jesus Heals Ministry, and our young people through TIP (Teen Intercessor Prayers). Mike is also a member of the Knights of Columbus and Mary a part of the Seven Sisters Apostolate, a group dedicated to praying for priests.

They continue to have a great devotion to Divine Mercy and faithfully spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in our Divine Mercy Chapel. They are also part of the Divine Mercy Prayer Group, which gathers monthly to read St. Faustina’s diary, as well as coordinating the parish prayer and festivities for Divine Mercy Sunday. In May and October, they invite fellow parishioners to come to pray at their home, at their large outdoor Rosary, which was built in honor of Mary’s late husband, John. They also participate in a Bible study, visit nursing homes, feed the hungry with Caring and Sharing Hands in the cities, help at funeral dinners, and lead the Rosary.

“The Bible says, ‘Don’t put your light under a bushel basket,’” Mary says. “We tipped that basket over and we want our light to shine. You let your light shine a little bit and pretty soon you’re a 100watt bulb. You’re plugged in and there’s no unplugging you. The light gets brighter all the time.

“When we get plugged into these ministries, our light shines for everyone to see,” she adds. “We want to encourage people to get plugged in.”

Both Mike and Mary have found that trust in the merciful love of God is what sustains them through difficult times, whether it be a pandemic, loss of a spouse, or just regular life challenges. They encourage their fellow parishioners to find peace and consolation in Divine Mercy.

“I know for myself, to realize Who is in charge here, everything we have and we go through is because of God,” Mike says. “We have to focus on that. It’s all God’s plan. I just say, ‘I don’t know what Your plan is, but You’ve got one.’”

“We say, ‘Jesus, I trust in You — Jesus, I give all of this to You and You will take care of it,’” Mary adds. “Just pray, don’t worry about stuff.”

Thank you, Mike and Mary, for all the ways you serve and inspire our parish and community!

Mike and Mary Thomas love being part of the parish community at St. Paul’s.