Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

We are celebrating our Family Fun Weekend this weekend, sadly the weather does not appear to be cooperating with the full activities, but hopefully we are able to generate some fun (and raise some money for the school) out of the process.

Don’t forget to get those 50/50 tickets in for the drawing this afternoon! Good luck to everyone.

This week we observe the feast day of Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1617, Vincent began serving poor families in Paris, bringing them food and comfort. He organized wealthy women of Paris to assist with his work, collect funds for missionary projects, and establish hospitals. Eventually he and Saint Louise de Marillac, founded the Daughters of Charity (of Saint Vincent de Paul). In 1622 Vincent founded the Congregation of the Mission, commonly called the “Vincentians.” Our bishop is a member of this Society.

St. Vincent de Paul is the patron of charity and charitable organizations. A world-wide network of social service organizations called the St. Vincent de Paul Society, carry on the work he established, serving the poor and needy. In our parish the work that the members of the Society do provides a tremendous value to the lives of the people in our surrounding communities. On Wednesday, which is the feast, we will celebrate the members of the Society with a reception after the Mass. We are always working to expand our hours of operation, and now members of the Kimisis Tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church on Hillcrest Road are also going to get involved with the food pantry and its operation. This will enable a truly ecumenical outreach within our community. We are always in need of additional volunteers, so if you have some time during the week and would like to offer some meaningful service to the community, please make contact with the members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society here.

This weekend is also the first day of Autumn (Saturday) and next weekend is already the first of October, letting us know that the year is coming quickly to an end. We have many projects ahead, so much more news to come in the coming weeks.

A blessed week to all,

Fr. Garry