Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Happy All Saints Day! Today we celebrate what we all – hopefully – aspire to be: saints among the saints in the halls of Heaven! Tomorrow we are reminded of what we also will be – poor souls in need of purgation and preparation in order to enter the halls of Heaven. Today we celebrate and tomorrow we pray fervently for the souls of the faithful departed. In keeping with our usual custom we will celebrate an evening Mass for the families of those who have been buried from our parish since last November 2nd, we will also be live-streaming that Mass Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. It is an opportunity to remember all of our beloved dead and to pray for them.

The entire month of November is devoted to the poor souls. You can complete the envelopes you have received and write the names of your deceased loved one’s on them and drop them into the basket or at the parish office at any time during the month. Those envelopes will be placed in front of the altar for the entire month.

This past Monday we opened the Adoration Chapel from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. As of this writing, it has been going well. Following the protocols and maintaining social distance is key to the continued success of this endeavor. The opportunity to pray in the presence of the Blessed Lord is so important for us in our faith journey and it is an important ministry of our parish community. This coming Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will be celebrated in the church. You are invited to attend and to pray with us then.

We are all most grateful to the Knights of Columbus in our parish who have been serving as ushers and guardians at all of the Masses since we opened up in June. We are also grateful for the cooperation of everyone with masks and social distance. As we return to the 9:30 a.m. Mass this weekend we are encouraged by the increasing number of people coming to Mass each week. We will continue to monitor the numbers and to celebrate – as we did last week – a second Mass in the school gym when the number of people coming to Mass warrants it. This is a good problem to have and we are most fortunate to have two priests here to be able to do this.

We are still in need of a new teacher for the second grade in the school. One of the teachers has found a new position we are in need of a replacement. It seems that now teachers are at a premium and we are not being as successful as we had hoped. If you know of anyone, please let them know.

Next Saturday the school will hold the formal dedication and blessing of the Great Outdoor Learning Center. It is a well-designed and constructed space where the students have occasion to better understand nature but also to be able to have an outdoor classroom and learning center. If you get a chance, walk or drive by the classroom found on the property at the pavilion, the site where once upon a time we held the parish carnival. It is an amazing space. Thank you to Mr. Donahue and especially to teacher Mrs. Tara Guido who was the driving force behind the project.

Due to the incredible generosity of a donor we will be undertaking renovations to the Food Pantry to make it contactless and Covid compliant. This means we will be able to open up again at full force, but also means that we are in need of more volunteers. If you have any time to give to community service – whether you are seventeen or seventy, please make contact with the parish office.

Overall, things continue to go well here – and for this we are most grateful to God and to each and every one of you.

Blessings!
Fr. Garry