Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

I hope this finds everyone well. Yes, there is still much around us to be disconcerting, but grounded in our life of faith and the certainty that such a wonderful gift bestows upon us, we all walk in hope. No matter our feelings about the happenings in our country and throughout the world, we respond always first in prayer and gratitude. As we maintain attitudes of gratitude for the many blessings which have been bestowed upon us our eyes are opened to see the positive and not the negative, hope not despair, love not hate.

The goings on around St. Ben’s are up and down. Unfortunately we had to quarantine a few classes because of a positive case within the student body, making this our first such situation this year. By immediately consulting the Township Health Official we were able to act quickly and prudently in this situation. There have been a few cases here among the staff, but they have been isolated and easily contained. We all just have to be safe. Hopefully the vaccine will be available for the majority of us fairly soon.

Next week we will observe Catholic School’s Week. We are grateful to the many parents and grandparents who entrust their students to our care and we look forward to serving the community for many years into the future. We have done an excellent job educating, forming, and socializing the students during these strange times, and it shows in the enthusiastic and upbeat demeanor of our students each and every day.

Check the school website for scheduling appointments for tours. They have already had to expand the number of days as all of the available slots filled-up, so certainly that is promising for the coming school year. Hopefully the protocols on social distancing in the school will be eased by the opening of the next school year so that things can return to a semblance of the familiar.

There is no doubt that the continuing pandemic has made definitive scheduling of parish events a challenge. As Bishop O’Connell has again extended to pastors the delegation to celebrate Confirmation, and with the need to observe reasonable numbers of people in church, we have again had to split the Confirmation sessions from two to four. Confirmation will be celebrated for religious education students on Thursday, March 25th in two sessions and the SBS students will be confirmed on Friday, March 26th in two sessions. We have made no definitive decisions about the reception of First Holy Communion, but suspect we will be able to keep to an early May date. The religious education students preparing for First Holy Communion received First Penance this weekend. Please remember them in your prayers.

We are preparing for the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday on February 17th. The bishop has announced the necessary protocols for distribution of ashes, though we have yet to finalize how many services we will hold throughout the day. Remember, all that is required of Ash Wednesday is fasting and abstinence. The reception of ashes while noble and worthy, is not mandated.

Do your best this week to stay safe, healthy, and well.

Let us continue our prayers for one another and for our world.

Fr. Garry