Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of Saint Benedict:

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. In much of the world this is the day for exchanging gifts and celebrating what we often refer to as “Little Christmas.” This is the last Sunday of the Christmas Season, which ends, liturgically, on Monday with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I expect that, after the hustle and bustle of the Christmas and New Year’s festivities everyone is looking forward to getting back to life as normal. Hopefully we’ve seen most of the snow for this season already!

We did one additional, though hidden, improvement to the mechanicals of the church just before Christmas. The lighting control system, as you might have observed, was outdated and it had taken on a mind of its own. Perhaps you were in church at a moment when the lights would just randomly turn off. The only way we could control that was to shut off the computer which meant we could not actually control the lights. Not sure when it had been installed, no one knew the password to the computer program that ran the lights, and the software company could not assist us as we also didn’t know the “hints” to answer the right questions. Even if we did, the program was several generations outdated and it would have cost way too much money to upgrade. For much less money, we have completely overhauled the lighting system. The new computer system is less complicated and easier to run.

I want to thank all of you for your remarkable generosity to the various drives and sales that are so common during this season of the year. We were able to make the Christmas a “merry” one for many families throughout the Bay Shore area and beyond. Likewise, your generosity to the parish, to the members of the staff of the church and school, and to Father JM and myself are deeply appreciated. Between the maintenance crew and the main office staff, the Christmas Season was a hectic one, but they managed to make everything run smoothly and look beautiful. We cannot thank them enough for their dedication to our parish.

The pre-Christmas celebrations: Simbang Gabi, school pageants, tree lighting, penance services; everything we did was done with great care, thorough planning, and in a prayerful and hope-filled manner. Father JM and his volunteer team for Simbang Gabi executed a beautiful and very meaningful celebration here. Thank you to all who attended. I know that they hope that it continues to grow in our parish. We are enriched by the prayers and celebrations of all the local customs and rituals of the various communities of our parish. I also want to thank the deacons for their service to our community. They can be overlooked, but the Christmas celebrations are very demanding on them as well. A special “thank you” to Father JM for all that he did (and does) for our parish during the Advent and Christmas Seasons.

As we prepare to enter into Ordinary Time, and the green color again fills the church, we are reminded of the daily experience of our call to discipleship. The green inside of church during this bleak and dark time of the year offers us a sense of hope and the promise of the Spring to come.

Enjoy a relaxing week,
Fr. Garry