Wow…
Thank you for your warm reception of our Capital Campaign. After all of the Masses, so many people came up and told me they would be behind the project. One man came up to me after the 12:00 PM Mass and said, “I’m not from your parish or even from this state, but I heard your talk and walked over around your new property and I want to contribute to the project.” Then he reached in his shirt pocket and took out a $100 dollar bill and gave it to me. He said “I can’t wait to come back in a couple of years and see what you guys have done with the project. Great move Father.” I can’t wait to get the project started either, from his lips to God’s ears….There you have it - the first contribution to our drive. That’s $100 down and $1,299,900.00 to go. Thanks again for your support.
School Mass / Start of the Year
Last week we had the opening School Mass. The kids were great and, of course, they loved ringing the Church Bells. This year, both the oldest and the youngest rang the bells. Thank God we have patient neighbors. Our little school is off to a good start. Everyone is getting settled into a routine and things are going well. Even the little, little ones (3 years old) don’t cry as much as they did when they started. This year’s class of eighth graders is a great bunch of kids and we expect good things from them this year as our school leaders. Every day a friar or Sal, our youth minister, leads the school in prayer. Last Monday, when I started the prayer, I asked the 5th graders to share intentions. Most of them prayed for their grandparents and parents. Beautiful!!
Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful, as Lawrence Welk used to say….(only a few of us remember Lawrence Welk)
Our Parish picnic was beautiful. The weather was great. The food was served to almost 800 people in less than 20 minutes. We had lots of volunteers for the set-up and take-down. Everyone was so happy to be together. I have come to see the parish picnic as the high point of our parish life. A heartfelt thank you to Pat and Ray Kalentkowski and their team for their great effort. Thank you to Thurston Foods for donating most of the great food. Thank you one and all.
9th Grade Religious Education Program
This year we are working much harder to enhance our 9th Grade Confirmation Program. After meeting over the summer with the teachers, we have decided to literally double our efforts. The teachers will be volunteering double the amount of hours. The friars have prepared all of the classes and will be meeting with the teachers to go over the material before they teach it. We will vary the class methods. Sometimes something will be presented to the whole class, sometimes it will be presented in the individual classrooms. After every class there will be an online quiz that the students will have to take and pass to make sure they understand and remember what they learned. There will be more service hours and service days to help our students donate their time to those in need. In October, we are marching to the top of Talcott Mountain (Hill) to have Mass and be together one Sunday Morning. Lots and lots of things are planned.
Helping Hands Ministry.
We have had a lot of stops and starts with this important ministry for our seniors. Once again we are going to start up with a meeting on Thursday, September 26th at 6:00 PM in the School Library. If you have ever volunteered with Helping Hands and would like to continue to do so, please attend this important meeting. Many of our Senior Citizens find themselves alone with their children out of state. They don’t ask for much, maybe a phone call or a quick run to the grocery store. If you have not volunteered for Helping Hands but would like to, do rest assured you are most welcome to join our efforts. God Bless you!