Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

After much work, planning, haggling, and worry we have made it to carnival weekend. This “last blast of summer” event now only relies on good weather and good attendance. Hopefully it has all been going well. There are so many wonderful people we are indebted to for their dedication to the success of the weekend. We will address more of that next week. Suffice to say, if you spent enough time at the carnival, they are easy to spot and identify.

Next weekend we will observe Catechetical Sunday. It is a time for us to celebrate our catechists – professional staff in the school, the faith formation office, and the many volunteers to work with our students, RCIA candidates, and adult faith programs throughout the year. We are still in need ofsome additional volunteers – adults and high school students – to assist on the Sunday evening confirmation program. It is a good way for the students to earn service hours.

In two weeks we will celebrate a “Teaching Mass” at the 12:30 p.m. Sunday Mass. We did something like this over a year ago. It is a good way for us to become more attuned to the rhythm, meaning, and the Biblical and traditional origins of the Mass. Perhaps we can get to a point where we could celebrate such a Mass at all of the Masses on a weekend to be of assistance to everyone. This is a good prelude to the “Rediscover the Eucharist Day” we are planning for Saturday, October 19th. That day will be a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get in touch with the roots and meaning of the Eucharist. A recent Pew Survey which indicated that only about one-third of Catholics believe in or understand that Jesus Christ is truly and physically present in the Eucharist. We need to re-evangelize, catechize, and celebrate the true meaning of the Eucharist. Bishop O’Connell wrote a wonderful letter –“This is My Body. This is My Blood” – in response to that survey. You can find the letter on the parish website in the August 25th bulletin. Please give it a read through if you haven’t already.

So far the school is off to a great start. We have had all of the usual and necessary back to school events, and the welcoming of new students and their families. Mr. Donahue and the teachers seem to be happy and enjoying the beginning of the year, so we pray for everyone’s continued success. Likewise, we kick off religious education classes this week. With so many students here in the summer time, the weekly classes have gotten much smaller. This makes for more focused attention in the Wednesday classes. We all continue to pray for the students and the families who are assisted and served by our parish programs. The success and welfare of every child of St. Benedict’s parish community is a concern for all of us.

We are excited for all of the fall activities and programs here. If you have any particular needs or issues you would like to see addressed, please do not hesitate to make contact with us. We will do our best to provide whatever programs, assistance, or guidance you deem necessary to help you on your journey in life. At every age of life we have our own particular needs. It is our mission to accompany one another in every phase of that journey.

May the Lord bless all of you in his goodness,
Fr. Garry