Come on you guys register already...
Registration for our Religious Education has been open for over two months. Only ? of the children who participate are registered. This is nothing new…. it happens every year. People just seem to get caught up in summer fun and forget to go online and register their children for Religious Ed. The delay in registration is a pretty significant burden on our Religious Education Staff because now is the time that they begin to make up the class rosters and figure out how many catechists we will need. The registration process is easy and completely on line, so please go to the parish website and click on the graphic to sign up your kids... Oh yeah, last week a Mom came in and was very upset because she could not figure out how to register her teenager online for Religious Ed. She told me she had tried to register him several times, but couldn’t figure out how to do it. Her son was with her, so I simply told him, “there’s a computer. Register yourself.” In less than 5 minutes, he and his sister were registered. If you can’t figure out our online registration process, ask your kid to do it.

Hey Fr. Robert where’s the roof ?
Someone stopped me after Mass last Sunday and asked me that simple question. “Hey Fr. Robert, where’s the new roof?” Yes we are replacing the gym roof this summer but let me tell you it isn’t easy. First we had it all scheduled but someone in the Archdiocese who needed to sign off on the project went on vacation. Then it started to rain every couple days, and the roofer’s schedule got all messed up. Now it is getting tricky because Fr. Peter’s ordination is coming up, and we don’t want to be changing the roof during the celebration. Rest assured, a brand new roof is signed, sealed and hopefully will soon be delivered over our school gym.

Summer Camp Update
We had a bumper crowd of kids at camp this week. Both our campers and our teenagers seemed very happy to be there. Let me tell you, those kids run their camp counselors ragged. I think the boys played keep away for almost two hours the other day. Mrs. Scalora is still accepting registrations. If you need a break, or your kids need a break, St. Paul Summer Camp is still an option. Simply email [email protected] if you are interested.

Smartboards for Smart Kids
Our Parish is in the process of installing Smartboards in all of the remaining instructional areas of our School. These boards are used by both our school teachers and religious education catechists. This will complete phase two of the school and religious education technology upgrade that we began last year. Each smartboard and installation costs $5,000. If anyone is interested in helping us cover the cost, please give me (Fr. Robert) a call. With the installation of these important instructional tools, our school is up to date technologically. This summer when we were interviewing candidates for our school principal. It became apparent to me that technology wise we are in a better position than some local public school districts.


Planning and Dreaming - Parish Staff Retreat
Last week, our Parish Staff was on a planning retreat for two days at Ender’s Island in Mystic Connecticut. We prayed together, had Eucharistic Adoration and Mass and took the first step in establishing some concrete goals for this coming year. Once the work of the retreat is reviewed and approved by our Pastoral Council, I will publish our goals for the year in the bulletin so that you can see where we hope to go.

Fr. Emilio P. Padelli
I am so grateful to the unknown parishioner who forwarded me the article from the June Catholic Transcript on Fr. Emilio Padelli. He grew up in Kensington and was a parishioner of St. Paul Church when he entered the Seminary. He is the only native vocation from St. Paul Church that I know of. If you know of any others, please let me know. Fr. Emilio’s article is in the bulletin (see below) so that the parish can know a little about his life.
Fr. Robert

FATHER EMILIO P. PADELLI
Fr. Emilio P. Padelli remembers that the newly dedicated Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford was packed on May 31, 1962, the day he and 11 other men were ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Henry J. O’Brien.
“Awesome”, he said, recalling it. “Everything was brand new, shiny and it was the old Latin rite. It seemed to me to be a little more—I don’t want to say spiritual, but there was more of a mystery about it. It was just an awesome experience.”
A half century later, he reflects on his long ministry in 8 parishes and says, “I just want to say, I’ve enjoyed the priesthood for the past 50 years. I’d like to be quoted as saying I’d do it all over again.”
He was born on December 3, 1934, in Kensington and attended Kensington Grammar School and Berlin High School. He was influenced by two loving parents who raised him in the Catholic faith at St. Paul Parish in Kensington. He was influenced by Fr. James Kelleher, who assisted at St. Paul’s from 1948-55. “He was a good, dedicated priest who invited me to visit St. Thomas Seminary (in Bloomfield). God calls in different way, doesn’t he? And I’ve always thought that was the call, and I liked what I saw, took the entrance exam and was admitted. The rest is history.”
To men thinking about the priesthood, Fr. Padelli would say, “It may be the Lord calling, so try it. That’s what I did. And you’ll know during the course of the Seminary whether you really have that call to the priesthood; and if you do, it’s the greatest life a man can have.”