Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

This is Vocation Awareness Week. As I mentioned in a prior missive, it is a good time to reflect on the meaning and role of our own “religious vocations” – be it married, preparing for marriage, deacon, or priest. It is also time to reflect on how we encourage and strengthen the vocations of others. We will engage in our annual Adopt-a-Seminarian appeal this weekend.

I know some of you – and indeed even Father JM and myself – were expecting to dedicate a new Marian statue last weekend. Unfortunately it has yet to arrive from Portugal. As soon as it does, we will dedicate the statue.

I also mentioned a few weeks ago our desire to place additional icons in the Hall of Saints. There are many saints to whom we have devotions relative to certain patronages or ethnic connections. However, there is a limited number of Icons that are available from the distributor in the same style.

We are also still in negotiations about a new vendor to sponsor the religious items kiosk in the Narthex. We purchased the remaining inventory from the Angelus Shop so items that are presently for sale are still part of that arrangement. We will not be restocking those items.

Friday we will open the Mass Book for 2019. Information and instructions are found here in the bulletin. This is both the easiest and most fair way to handle the availability of dates for the coming year. It is also good to consider offering an Unannounced Mass, especially for those intentions where no one will be able to attend. During the school year I celebrate Mass twice a week at Christian Brothers Academy, and Father JM celebrates Mass weekly at St. John Vianney High School.

We also celebrate one Mass each month at the Bayshore Health Care Center, and at Regency Park. Once during the odd numbered months we celebrate Mass at The Willows. As there are no Mass intentions at those sites, it is then that the Unannounced Masses are celebrated. If, for whatever reason, you would like a Mass intention to be celebrated at any of those locations, please let us know. We also offer the Memorial Mass Society, where we offer a Mass for all enrolled on the Frist Saturday of each month for a year. Regardless of which options you choose, it is important to remember that it is good to pray for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish. I would also suggest making provision in your estate plan for money to be contributed to the parish for your own intentions after you are gone.

Each day this month we also remember the specific intentions presented at the altar. The All Souls envelopes – which you can add throughout the month – allow us to remember all of our deceased families and friends in very special ways.

You can also memorialize deceased relatives and friends by lighting a Sanctuary Candle in either the Church or the Our Lady of Victory Adoration Chapel.

We are ever mindful of our duty to pray for one another. Let us take this month of the Poor Souls to be conscious of our own mortality and our desire to share in the eternal life that the Lord offers to us through his own passion, death, and resurrection.

Blessings,
Fr. Garry