Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of Saint Benedict:

This week we will be learning of the final decisions of Bishop O’Connell regarding the organization of the parishes in our diocese. We are not expecting any significant impact on our parish, although there may well be some organizational changes in some of the neighboring parishes. We expect to work with our cohort parishes – St. Catharine of Genoa, Holmdel; St. Gabriel, Marlboro; and St. Mary, Colts Neck, throughout the process. Once we know more I will share more. I again wish to express gratitude to our study team: Mike McCahill, Lynn Hoffman, Betty Martin, John Kurowski, and Dan Ryan. Their work, along with the teams of the other parishes in the cohort, made the entire process smooth and welcoming. I trust that the same will be true of the implementation team.

Last weekend we saw the Faith to Move Mountains video which outlines the essential elements of the program. My letter last week explained the parish share and initiatives. If you have any feedback on that, please let me know. I hope that together we can reach the allotted goal so that we might benefit from the program to the fullest.

Next weekend is commitment weekend. All of us, regardless of our means, ought to consider some gift to the campaign. There are incentives for percentage of participation also built in to the parish rebate. Remember that this is a five-year campaign and not a one-time gift (unless you so choose).

Because of the campaign start time in our parish we will not be participating in the Annual Catholic Appeal until later in the year. While this is a good thing (in terms of timing and commitment) it is a bad thing as we get a nice refund (>$20,000) from the appeal each year. I do not know the timing of the appeal as of now.

This weekend we kicked off the Marriage Ministry with the dinner that was held Saturday 21st at Jacques. As of this writing we were expecting over 70 couples to attend! This is a very positive and hopeful sign for the future of a marriage ministry here in our parish.

There are also some plans afoot to develop a ministry out reach to singles and those who are widowed. We cannot neglect any demographic constituency of the parish in service to the Gospel.

We are in that January lull – what psychologists tell us is the most depressing time of the year. Personally I don’t find February that much better! I hope everyone is doing their best to take care of themselves. We’ve been fairly lucky with the snow so far, and hopefully we don’t have to spend much more on snow removal. (I hope I didn’t just jinx us on that front)! Take care of yourselves and make sure you are getting enough exercise and eating well!

Peace, Fr. Garry