Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

The summer seems to be moving along at a fast clip, as we enter in to the last week of June and then celebrate Independence Day next weekend. We are contemplating some projects around here this summer. The first thing that has already been done is expanding the hours of operation for the Food Pantry. Now, with more volunteers, and in response to a growing need for material assistance, this is an important way for us to serve the community and expand the mission of the parish.

You might remember that a year ago the Food Pantry was remodeled in order to increase both efficiency and to respond to the pandemic protocols. There is some work that yet needs to be done there. We acknowledge the generosity of a parishioner who donated a new generator to the parish, which has now been installed at the food pantry. This is an important back-up for the refrigerators and freezers in the pantry. We would certainly not want to lose food because of an extended power outage. We are hoping to acquire another generator to back up the refrigerators, freezers, and other essential operations in the church and school complex.

We also need to think about the air conditioning unit in the church. We are in need of replacing that unit, as it is old, inefficient and often breaks down. We will also be sealing the parking lots at some point before the winter.

As you know we recently added a classroom building here to house the three-year old students. Now, thanks to the efforts of the school to procure the funds, and an SBS alum who is working on her Girl Scout “Gold” project, we will be building a playground near that classroom. This will include educational and developmental activities for the students, so that even their play will have a pedagogical purpose.

We had a quick response to our request to hire a teacher for the fifth grade, so we are presently fully staffed for the coming school year. Hopefully it stays that way!

This coming September marks sixty years since the opening of St. Benedict School. In order to celebrate our successes over the past sixty years, and assuring that we are well poised for the future, we have decided to Celebrate Sixty with a gala on Friday, November 4th. We are inviting all of our alumni, former faculty and staff members, current and past families of the school, and our parish community to join us in celebrating the successes of our school. There are many alumni who keep in touch with the school; several have worked here and a fair number of our students and alumni are second generation. I am not sure if we have any third generation students here, that is something to investigate! You will be hearing more about this event, as well as the sponsorship opportunities, in the near future. We are grateful to the parents associations (PTA, Arts, Athletics, GRACE) and our point persons on staff, Patti Dickens and Lori Ulrich, for their enthusiasm and coordination as we plan this celebration.

We are launching a new community building initiative each week in the Bulletin. Beginning on July 10th we will highlight a family or individual parishioner and “introduce” them to the parish. There are many people we see each week — some of them we “hear” as lectors; some of them we encounter as they distribute the Body of Christ to us; some of them we “meet” as we exchange the sign of peace; and others we see randomly. Yet, we do not know that much about them or about each other. So, we are presenting a “parishioner of the week” to help us to get to know our brothers and sisters better and to further build up our community. We used to have a “Called by Name” program in November where parishioners wore name tags each weekend of the month, and that is something that we could certainly consider doing again in the future.

Have a blessed week.
If you are traveling next weekend, I hope you enjoy the Fourth of July Holiday,
Fr. Garry