Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

This is Trinity Sunday. The notion of the Trinity probably confuses most of us, as the very nature of the Trinity is complicated and known only through the discernment of revelation. The Doctrine itself is best defined by the First Council of Nicaea (325). You will be hearing more about this Council during the year, as it is now 1700 years since the Emperor Constantine the Great convened a church council in Nicaea (modern Iznik, Turkey) to address some important theological questions. The matters at hand focused on the nature of Jesus and then consequently the nature of the Trinity. They were not, contrary to Dan Brown and his fiction writing, creating new doctrines, rather they were focused on coining the specific terminology and language in order to understand and explain those doctrines.

Next weekend is Corpus Christi Sunday -- the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. After the 11am Mass we will have a Eucharistic procession on the property with adoration and benediction on various outside Altars. As the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is central to our Catholic identity, and the focus on our relationship with Jesus, the celebration of this feast is a reminder to us of the significance of the Eucharist in our life of faith.

This weekend we are extending a blessing to all of our parishioners who have graduated this year from high school, college, trade school, professional school, or graduate school. Our parish community celebrates with you, and we pray for your continued success in all of your endeavors.

On the more mundane front, several projects are underway or have already been completed on the property. We paved the backparking lot this past week. The fascia and soffit work on the first and second wings of the school is well underway. The new fire alarm system in the school has been completed. Additionally, we have had some emergency work to do. The Confessional Room had a mold invasion, so we needed to remove the wall and the sound barrier to replace the sheet rock there, paint the room, and replace the sound panel. There has also has been some flooding in the basement of the rectory in where I live, so we needed to replace the underground drainage system, which carries rainwater from the roof of the house. As the house is over fifty years old, this is work that needs to be done and has been overlooked for a while.

School ended this past week, as the students walked out on Tuesday, for the completion of the academic year. We are grateful to Mr. Cammarano and Mrs. Gallagher, the teachers, staff, and the aides who made this a very successful school year. We are anticipating an enrollment of about 540 students for September. Some grades still have available spaces if you or anyone you know is interested.

We are still a couple of weeks away from the opening of the Summer Academy for religious education. Spaces are limited; call Faith Formation if you are interested. Likewise, the school Camp-Out has limited availability, the school office will be able to assist there.

It is finally starting to feel like summer, which is good, as summer officially begins with the equinox at 10:42pm this coming Friday.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable week.
Fr Garry