Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
Connected Through Prayer
Bishop Perez is hosting a retreat for priests in Assisi, Italy.  In honor of our ten year anniversary, my classmates and I are joining him for this great opportunity.  And because we will already be in Europe we figured we might as well tag on some vacation time to celebrate with just the five of us, so we are touring through Germany on the Rhine River for a week after the retreat.  This means I will be out of town for 18 days!  It is a little long, but please know of my prayers for you.  I will be taking with me your intentions especially as we visit and pray at the holy places of our Catholic Faith.  Please keep me and my classmates and other brother priests in your prayers too.  One of the beautiful things of our faith is our spiritual communion through Christ with each other.  In particular at Mass we share in the same Body and Blood of Christ even if we are halfway around the world. 
 
Catholic Charities Follow-up Appeal
Thank you for your support of the Follow-up Catholic Charities appeal.  This year the donations go specifically to assist the ministry at Camp Christopher offering camp experiences for those who are disabled.  I know it can be difficult to discern how to offer our support when there are such great needs and so many organizations asking for financial help.  Giving to our parish, the diocese, Catholic Charities, other local community causes, and even good secular organizations are all legitimate needs.  My advice is truly bring the questions of donation to prayer - let us not be afraid to ask God and let Him encourage us toward what is right and just.  It may require some sacrifice to show the generosity to which He calls us, but at the same time He gives us the peace and grace we need.  The Lord does not require us to become destitute, but asks us to have generous hearts willing to sacrifice for others.  The cool thing is, when we surrender to this, unexpectedly wonderful grace-filled things can happen! 
 
The Bells, The Bells!
Ask anyone who attended the Summit Bells Concert last week, and they will tell you how impressive it was not only to hear but to watch the musicians make music - everything from sacred and ethereal to jazzy and frenetic!  A true joy that I wish more people would have shared with us by attending.  I am sure we will try to have them back again, but in the meantime make sure to look out for cool concerts and opportunities like this at St. Paul’s.  Thank you to Heidi for facilitating the concert and to our own handbell choir who were on hand as ushers.
 
Thank you so much for your past and continued support.
 
See you in a couple weeks!
God bless you!
Sincerely in Christ,