Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

We ask your blessings and prayers for the children from our parish who will be attending the Summer Religious Education Academy, their families, the teachers, volunteers, and the staff members of St. Benedict Parish. This is a tremendous undertaking, involving hundreds of people and many moving parts. Mrs. Nancy Arkin, Director of Faith Formation, does an amazing job organizing and getting this all together, along with her associates, Mr. Ciro Saverino, Naomi Atherley, and Loretta Assini. This is the first week, with two more weeks to go.

We will be happy to have this energy inside of our school building again. The past two weeks have been eerily silent with only a handful of children attending the extended day summer program. I know it can feel overwhelming when there are 400 students around, but everything just feels better with energy, noise, and most importantly, good formation in faith happening.

Thank you to all for your positive response to the work of Father Christopher Colavito here last weekend. There are many needs in the life of the church and today priesthood is more counter-cultural than at any time in our historical memory. Please continue to pray for our seminarians and our priests. We had a nice gathering on June 11 at the Co-Cathedral, but we could certainly benefit from many more young men responding to the call.

On the weekend of July 13-14 we will observe the Feast of Saint Benedict. His feast day, July 11, can be transferred to the closest Sunday. In this way the entire parish can celebrate the feast together.

We are hoping to get ahead of the summer projects in the school soon, so that we are poised and ready to open in September. With all of the summer programs here, the season seems to run along quickly. Next week is already July 4!

Have a nice week -- and safe travels to all heading out of town for the holiday.
Father Garry