Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Happy Thanksgiving! The beginning of the holiday season is always festive and exciting, and I look forward to this time of the year. I hope that, unlike last year, you will all be able to celebrate the holiday with the family and friends who would typically grace your table. I will be in Pennsylvania with my Mother and whomever else she has managed to invite this year, for the holiday, and a few other days this week. For many reasons I guess, this is really my favorite holiday of the year.

Tuesday evening we will be hosting the annual RAINE Foundation Thanksgiving meal. This is a terrific partnership for our parish, and I am happy that we will be able to offer in-person meals this year. We welcome volunteers, especially those students who need service hours, to help with serving the food, spending some time with the people who attend, and in cleaning up afterwards.

This weekend we observe the Feast of Christ the King. This feast, which marks the last Sunday of Ordinary Time (therefore the last week of the Liturgical Year) is a reminder to us of our true citizenship in heaven. While kingdoms, fiefdoms, principalities, and nations rise and fall, God’s reign in our hearts and in the created universe is eternal. It is, though, a good time to pray for our national and state leaders.

This week, Wednesday, we have our second drawing in the Lucky Month Calendar Raffle. It is a good way to support the school and parish with a chance to win $1000. Tickets are available through the parish office and in the narthex of the church.

Last week I spoke about some of the Advent initiatives in the parish, all of which are usual. Next weekend, the First Sunday of Advent, we will bless the candles of the Advent Wreath and invite you to bring your candles to church that weekend to be blessed as well. We will be blessing and lighting our parish Christmas Tree on Friday, December 3rd. Join us for a few Christmas Carols, the spectacle of the lighting of the tree, and of course, that all important special guest. It is a quick and yet enjoyable evening for all.

We will hold our parish Advent Penance Service on Sunday, December 12th, starting at 4:00 p.m. The families in the religious education program will receive notice of the specific times when they should arrive. The second grade students in the RE program will receive first penance that afternoon as well. We will have about a dozen priests here that day for Confessions. As we did not hold either the Advent or Lent services last year, I am sure that many of us have not been to Confession in quite a while. Please mark your calendars and make every effort to attend.As I mentioned last week, we are all set for the Advent giving opportunities. No doubt, the need this year is great. Thank you for your generous support.

Everything else seems to be going well these days. Our parish is blessed with an extraordinary staff – professional and volunteer – on each level and in every office and each classroom of both the parish and the school. During this time of the year when we express our gratitude for the many gifts in our lives, all of us should be grateful for the many women and men who make this a welcoming, well-run, and faith-filled place to work and to worship.

Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
Fr. Garry