Dear Parishioners,

         I really enjoyed the 4 day Convocation I attended with the other priests of the Diocese. It’s always great to have the opportunity to visit with fellow priests whom we don’t get a chance to see throughout the year and even to meet new priests who have been ordained in recent years but whom we may not know as we older priests are so far removed from their time in the seminary. Thank you for your prayers for us and please continue to keep us in prayer.

         Last weekend we asked God’s blessings on Ed & Betty Rospotynsky who were celebrating their 65th Wedding Anniversary. Again, congratulations to them! I also want to extend our congratulations to Ken & Mary Ann Perry who celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary this past Friday. May they see their 65th Anniversary like Ed & Betty!

I’m anxious to see many of you at our annual Parish Festival this weekend. Again, so many people work very hard for a very long time to plan and prepare for this opportunity for us to come together & enjoy each other’s company, and to welcome those in the neighborhood who also join us for this yearly event. So again in advance I want to thank those of you who have donated hours of your time and your energy, those who have planned and help prepare, and those of you who have just been present to enjoy this two-day event. It’s a great blessing that we still have so many people willing to be a part of this fundraiser and who are still able to come & enjoy time with people you may not see the rest of the year. Of course I see you all most weekends of the year but I sometimes forget that because most people go to weekend Mass on the same day & at the same time, those from the 4pm Mass on Saturday may never see those from the 11am Mass on Sunday. So this is a chance for you to see and hopefully meet others who belong to our community but may not be known to you. I’m grateful to every single person who in any way will make this gathering a “success”…not only financially but most especially spiritually as our time together as a community of faith is always a “successful” way of being a Church. And as Nancy Zola announced last weekend, we thought that it would be helpful for you to know that the profits we collect as a result of the festival this year will be donated to those students in our school who need our financial support (and there are many of them). So on their behalf and especially in the name of their parents, we thank you for contributing to their welfare. 

I celebrated an all school Mass this past Wednesday (which was the middle of the month of October) during which I spoke to the children about the prayer of the rosary. Since we dedicate this month to Our Lady (and also appropriately to the gift of life), I wanted to show the children how to use the rosary to ask for our Blessed Mother’s intercession and to be reminded of her example. Each student will be receiving a rosary and I encouraged them to carry it in their pocket so that at any time of the day, when they have a few minutes, they can pray even just part of the rosary. One of the students asked me an interesting question (and I admit I could not give them an immediate answer as I wanted to give it some thought). The question was this: Can we wear a rosary around our neck? On the one hand, it is a powerful symbol of Catholic faith and devotion and as such can be an expression of their faith, much like wearing a crucifix or a medal of a saint. On the other hand, in some contemporary fashion trends, rosaries have been used as accessories without necessarily a religious intention which of course could been seen as disrespectful. So let me know what you think & how you would respond to this student’s question. 

 Fr. James P. Schmitz