For awhile, one of my favorite things to do is sit in Church and pray after I lock it up. Sometimes I sit quietly and other times I play my Christian music. One of my favorite songs is by Michael W. Smith and is called “Hold on Help is on the Way”. These last few months I’ve played that song over and over again. I’ll have a lot more to say about it this week at Mass as you will see.
Your/Our Gifts
As you know, last week our Pastoral Council members distributed Interest Surveys to increase our stewardship of this beautiful parish. I know it’s only Tuesday, but I'm getting a little nervous because I have only received 6 surveys back so far. I know that this was a first attempt at increasing involvement and stewardship. Please be sure to prayerfully consider how you can share your time and talent with your parish.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You !
The Parish Picnic
A special thank you to everyone who worked on the Parish Picnic. It was a wonderful success. Please check out the pictures on the web. The parish picnic is a great way to experience the diversity of our parish. We have lots of beautiful young couples, lots of little kids, and Senior Citizens who have been members of our parish for decades. Sometimes at the parish picnic you can see people sitting at the table with three generations of their family. At other tables you find wonderful friends and neighbors who have shared their lives with each other for many, many years. There were even some members of that most elusive group in our parish called teenagers at the picnic. One of them said, “Fr. Robert I thought this was going to be lame and just a bunch of old people but it was fun and the food was great.” If that isn’t a vote of confidence, I don’t know what is. We are so people Rich. Once again, a special and heart felt thank you to everyone who made our Parish Picnic the incredible success it was.
Eagle Scout Project
Did you notice the new landscaping in front of the Parish Center ? That was Anthony Mann’s Eagle Scout Project. The plants he chose are coordinated with other plants around our campus so that the gardens around our property will bloom together. A special thank you to Anthony and all the Scouts/Leaders from Troop 24 who worked with him on this great project.
The Golf Tournament / School Fund Raising
The Annual Golf Tournament Benefit for our School was a great success. I want to thank everyone who participated or helped organize the first school fund raising project of the year.
It costs over 10,000 to educate a student in the Berlin Public Schools, it costs $5,600 to educate a student in St. Paul School. The tuition at our school is just under $3,900 and events like the Golf Tournament help us make up the difference.
The Friary
After several months, the Friary Renovation Project is back on track. Right now they are working on the 40+ year old bathrooms that leak and were in dire need of improvements. We’ll continue to keep you updated on the progress of the Friary Renovations.
Religious Education
Our Religious Education Program is up and running and it is a huge endeavor. This year there are 897 students registered and with 82 Catechists teaching. There have been some pretty upsetting phone calls to the Parish Center because we had to close the registration. Parent’s have been able to register online or in person since last May. There have been multiple emails and the announcements have been in the bulletin almost every week. There comes a time when the class lists have to be finalized and classes have to start. If you failed to register your child for Religious Education, I’m sorry, but registration is closed. When you call the Parish Center or Religious Education Office and don’t get the answer you want, please don’t yell at the secretaries. They and we are doing the best we can.