Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

School Walk-through and Masses
Thank you to all who all participated in the Masses of Thanksgiving for the 92 years of St. Paul Parish Day School Ministry last weekend.  We had many visitors return to pray, share stories, walk the halls of the school, and give thanks to God for His boundless care.  I met a number of people coming from some distance to reminisce and pray with us.  I even saw some classmates of mine from high school who were graduated from St. Paul’s. I want to thank our custodial staff for having the rooms and halls cleaned and prepared.  Thank you to our staff and volunteers who took care of the cake, cookies, and other goodies.  While there were some sad emotions, there was still a Christian joy that permeated the weekend.  This is not joy as in a happiness the school is closed, but the joy that comes from a deep trust in God even in the midst of difficulty. 

It is good to remember, this is not the last time people are allowed to see the inside of the school.  In fact there is a group of former graduates scheduled to have a reunion here in November including Mass and a walk through of the building.  Furthermore, we will still be using certain classrooms for PSR and other parish activities; the PAC and Boeke Hall will have continued use for certain ministries and gatherings.  Even so, three is a lot of space, so how will we use it?  Moving forward I will be working with the Diocese and receive any guidelines they have.  But more fundamentally, this will be the task of the Parish Council in the coming months (the newest members will be announced in the next couple weeks); we will look at options and discern how to continue using the building to fulfill our mission in new ways.  Our trust in and thanksgiving to God will continue as we embark on a new chapter of our parish.

House Blessings & Pastoral Visits
The Deacon and I are working to complete the house blessings people requested from our last parish survey.  I am enjoying the visits very much and getting to know more people outside of seeing folks at Mass.  The rest of the visits are scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer.  However, there are still some slots open!  If did not request a visit yet but would like me or Dcn. John to come over for a house blessing, call the rectory and we can schedule it!  This initiative was meant to get things going in making better and deeper connections. I would love to come to visit, talk, and pray.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Pfr