Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Happy Labor Day weekend!

I know we call it the unofficial end of summer, but realistically there is still plenty of nice weather ahead. We are excited to welcome the students back to school this week. We seem to be in pretty good shape for the opening of school and, even with all of the protocols in place for the protection of our children it feels much more open and easier than last year. We know there will be challenges going forward, but we are poised to address them as needed. Congratulations to Kevin Donahue our principal, Christine Keeling, our vice-principal and Bob Cognat and his buildings and grounds crew for getting us ready for the school year.

This Wednesday evening, September 8th, as we celebrate the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Mother, we will hold a special Mass for healing and commemoration for our country and our world in light of the current struggles we are facing. Besides the pandemic, there is, as we all know, much political divide and a very unhealthy discord that has even disrupted families and friends. We will seek the intercession of the Blessed Mother to restore a sense of concord and peace among all peoples. Join us for the recitation of the Rosary at 6:30 pm followed by Mass at 7:00 pm.

This Saturday we will commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attack on our country. That day we lost many parishioners and extended families, and subsequently other families have moved into the parish who also lost loved ones on that day. This is one of those seminal days in history where very specific memories are etched in our minds as to where we were and what we were doing throughout that day and, sadly for many of us, for days and weeks following. We will have a Memorial Mass at 9:00 am on Saturday to remember all of the victims and their families. In light of the recent events in Afghanistan, this anniversary will prove to be even more poignant than many I am sure.

We are in need of a full-time staff member for the buildings and grounds crew. Details for the position can be found here in the bulletin. If you know anyone looking for a job, please have them apply for the position. Thank you.

We were hoping to see things opening up more as September approached and to perhaps offer some events that we have been holding off on, but with the delta variant as wide-spread as it is, we are keeping some things on hold and doing a slow rollout on others. We will be holding a parish-wide ministry fair the weekend of September 18th and 19th so this will give us an opportunity to grow our various ministries. We need altar servers, lectors, special ministers of Holy Communion (especially for Bay Shore Health Care Center), screen operators, and technician for live-streaming to name a few. At present it still seems that choirs are not permitted, so we will need to keep that on hold for a while yet.

We are gearing up for a Welcome Home Weekend in two weeks as we celebrate what would have been the parish carnival. It looks to be a fun weekend, built mostly around some friend raising and reconnecting, with food trucks and the movie Toy Story 4. The Sunday BINGO event should also be fun for all who can make it. Please support us next weekend – and don’t forget those 50/50 Raffle tickets. We have a few projects around the property that are in need of action, so the money raised here will benefit the entire parish.

Speaking of projects – and I know you have been waiting anxiously – start paying attention to the two priest residences on the property – the fall colors are coming!

Have a great week – and a Blessed Rosh Hashanah to our Jewish friends and family,
Father Garry