Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Our “Rediscover the Eucharist” event last Saturday was very successful. Thank you to the Faith Formation staff and their team of volunteers, as well as the presenters. We had a good turnout, though like anything else, you always hope for more.

Quite a few people mentioned in the week leading up to the presentation that they would like to attend, but were unable due to other commitments. Several of them asked about live-streaming or at least to have the video’s uploaded to the website. This got us to work quickly to make it happen. We were unable to get the permission quick enough from youtube to live stream, but we do have video of the entire day and these will soon be available on the website. We will do this going forward for all of the presentations here. This is an easy way to assist those who would like to attend but are unable.

This coming week, Father JM and I will do the last in the fall series on “Why Pray.” I would like to thank Fathers Martin O’Reilly and Christopher Dayton for their presentations earlier in the month.

Next weekend we will kick off a new initiative from the diocese entitled: “Called by Name”. This is a new approach to recruitment for vocations to the diocesan priesthood. As Father JM and I are both members of the diocesan vocation team, it is certainly incumbent upon us to do this work and do it well.

Let us, together, pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Also next weekend we will have an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe here in the church. There is more on this in the bulletin and in the announcements. Although more associated by many people with the Latino culture, Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patroness of the Americas. Hopefully we can increase this devotion here in our parish as well.

Good news for the school, as Holmdel Township has granted approval for the construction of the Out Door Classroom. We had raised money in the spring for this venture, and had hoped to have it built and in place over the summer, but we got held up by zoning issues. We learned this week that they are now resolved and, with a few small modifications, we are able to move ahead. Thank you to Mr. Donahue who pursued this with vigor, and to those who intervened on our behalf.

As November approaches, please remember the All Saints Holy Day this week – (Thursday evening and Friday) and our intentions for the month as we remember all of our deceased family, friends, and benefactors.

November will prove to be a busy month here, and then Advent comes quickly into the picture. Let us be mindful of maintaining our spiritual and faith lives in the midst of the hectic pace that seems to be kicking up around here.

Let us all continue to pray for one another,
Fr. Garry