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This weekend we are lighting the parish Christmas Tree and it is certainly beginning to look like Christmas. I want to acknowledge and thank the recently established Father’s Club, formed under Rich Romero (Director of Buildings and Grounds) who volunteer to assist with various projects around the property. This not only eases some of the burden on the maintenance staff, but also helps us to not have to always hire an outside contractor to do some of the jobs. They have been busy getting us ready for Christmas.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving week with your loved ones, and now the quick rush to the Christmas Season is underway. This weekend we observe the First Sunday of Advent, and the inauguration of the new liturgical year. We are now in Year A of the Sunday readings and Year II of the weekday readings. Our Sunday Gospel readings this year are primarily from Matthew’s Gospel, which means we will hear some more long didactic segments and many of the familiar rhythms upon which the liturgy was built. Matthew’s Gospel has a comfortable home in the Liturgy, and its use of Judaic expressions and images connects us deeply to the practices of Jesus and the early church.

A most blessed Thanksgiving week to all! I hope all travel safely and enjoy time with family and friends during this wonderful holiday. I also remind you to pause and focus on the “why” for this holiday. More than turkey, parades, and football, is we are centered on “giving thanks” to almighty God for life, our freedoms, and the many blessings bestowed upon us, our country, our family, and those whom we love and serve. Mass will be celebrated on Thursday at 9:00 am.

This weekend we celebrate the Diaconal Ordination of Anthony Cullen. A native of Brooklyn, Deacon Anthony, along with his wife Annie and children Brendan and Lily, have been members of St. Benedict Parish for the past decade and Deacon Anthony has been employed by St. Benedict School as Campus Minister and full-time teacher of religion there since April 2024. He has been engaged in numerous ministries of the parish, and has taken on the responsibility of recruiting and training the altar servers and the lectors. He now is entitled to exercise the fullness of the diaconal office: preaching the homily; assisting at the altar; baptizing catechumens; and witnessing marriages. Deacon Anthony will continue to perform the appropriate offices of burial for the faithful outside of Mass. We are happy to have him join the ranks of the clergy here for our diocese and in our parish. Please remember Deacon Anthony in your prayers.

Yet again this weekend we interrupt the cycle of Ordinary Time on Sunday to celebrate a significant feast day, but this one is more confusing to understand, the celebration of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. Officially this church is called Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the world. As the cathedral for the Diocese of Rome, it is the cathedral seat of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV.

Today we observe the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, known popularly as All Soul’s Day. Throughout November we remember the poor souls in Purgatory. This is our time to reflect and pray for the members of our parish, our families and other loved ones who have passed away during the past year, and of course, those who have been gone a long time, but whose memory still lives within our minds and hearts. We remember them at the Mass this Sunday, and we have a special commemoration Mass on Thursday at 7pm for those who were buried from here this past year.

The last week of October looms ahead, and next Sunday we observe All Soul’s Day, the annual commemoration of all our departed loved ones and parishioners. The Memorial envelopes will be in front of the altar throughout the month of November. On Thursday, November 6, we are celebrating the Mass for all of those who were buried from our parish since last November. Invitations have been sent to their families, but everyone is invited and welcome to attend this Mass.

We have already passed the mid-point of October, which means that the Fall Season quickly turns to winter and Christmas cannot be far away! This weekend is the Bishop’s Anniversary Blessing for those celebrating milestone marriage anniversaries this year. Congratulations to all who are celebrating!

Our Faithfully United campaign is off to a great start, and we are all grateful for the generous response to date. Please consider our initiative and do what you can. As I said in my homily last weekend, “we are looking for mustard seeds … It takes a lot of seeds to make a jar of mustard -- but Faithfully United we can build up our parish, enabling us not only to continue our good works, but also to make a greater difference in our community and the families whom we serve.”

Two weeks ago, John DeMuria spoke to the parish concerning our Stewardship Campaign, Faithfully United, and we are grateful for the positive response to date for this initiative. I am addressing this issue in the homily this weekend. 

I first want to thank John DeMuria for his presentation to the parish community last weekend. He highlighted the importance of stewardship and the diverse nature of the ministries of the parish. We have much work to do together, and at this time our resources are more stretched than we are comfortable. We need to care for the present, but can never lose sight of the future. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity in moving forward.

We are embarking on several initiatives which will, hopefully, help to stabilize our parish resources and serve as even better stewards for our parish community. As you saw the financial report of the parish in the bulletin over the past few weeks, you noticed that our income is not keeping pace with the expenses of maintaining and running our parish. To that end, we are engaged with Our Sunday Visitor to develop a plan to respond to this increasing financial situation.

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This feast, which dates back to the year 336, draws our focus to the power of the Sign of the Cross in our prayer, and as an important symbol in our churches, our homes, and as a part of our regular attire. The cross has become a common symbol now worn merely as jewelry, even by non-believers. We are reminded that the cross is not merely adornment, but a powerful symbol and statement of our faith that the cross of Jesus Christ is the source of our salvation.

It has been an exciting week here at the parish as we opened the 2025-2026 school year. It is fun to watch the youngest members of the school make their way into school for the first time toting their backpacks and ready to take on the world! The older and returning students, always sad to see the end of summer, yet enjoying meeting up with their classmates and meeting the new students. Read more.

As the summer comes to a close, we can look back at a very successful and productive summer here at St. Benedict’s and look forward to the start of a new school year and the many other activities that come along with the Fall season. Read more.

The summer is coming to a quick close and we are ready to open school! The faculty will report for their orientation sessions onTuesday, September 2, and students will work their way back on September 3 and 4, with the full open and school Mass on September 5. All of the projects we planned for the summer are complete; we are still working on the approval and permits for the construction of the music room, hopefully we get that through the planning board in October, and we can move forward quickly thereafter. Read more.

This weekend we bid adieu to Billy Attardi as he begins his seminary studies for the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Ambler, PA. Billy has worked and served in our parish for the past two years as he discerned his vocation and we got him prepared to enter the formation program. It has been a great experience for the parish staff here to mentor him and get him ready for this next leg of his journey. During his time with us Billy has served as a sacristan, lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, including taking Communion to the homebound, he has assisted at funerals, daily and weekend Masses (especially 5:00 pm on Sunday), and has accompanied me on various ministerial journeys. We will miss him and his work here, and we pray for his continued discernment and growth in his vocation. Read more.

As you can see the sidewalk replacement project is complete and it looks great! Again, we are grateful to Kevin Shepherd and his company for the donation of the materials, and to Clayton for the installation over the past two weeks. The crew worked through some of the most challenging heat of the summer. We were fortunate to have little rain over the period, so the project was able to be completed on time. The walkways to the Parish Office, Adoration Chapel, and the School will be completed next summer. We are, as I have mentioned previously, including a brick sale into the project in the walkways to the School and Adoration Chapel. More information will be in next week’s bulletin. Read more.

As you can see the pavement has been replaced along the front of the church and school property. This has been a tremendous undertaking, and we are very grateful to Kevin Shepherd and his company for donating the product to us. Our only financial obligation to the project is the labor (which is over $60,000 anyway). This, however, is not your typical concrete project. This is a recycled material including tens of thousands of glass and plastic bottles, along with recycled concrete. Once I have more details I will pass that along to you. This is an important step in our green initiative in the school. We are happy to use and to showcase this material advancement for use in construction and sidewalk construction. Read more.

As we enter this last week of July our thoughts turn quickly to the end of summer and the beginning of another school year. As I mentioned last week we are now in deep with the summer projects, so the sidewalk replacement is well underway and the new boilers will be installed in the school over the next few weeks. All of the projects are necessary improvements to our property and will enhance both the appearance and functionality of the space. Read more.