My Dear Parish Family:

Pentecost Sunday is today! This is the day when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Holy Women gathered together in the same Upper Room where the Last Supper took place. When the Spirit came upon those gathered, it was the beginning of telling the whole world about Jesus as our Saviour.

Today, we are encouraged to continue to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, through our Baptism and Confirmation, to tell the whole world that Jesus is Saviour. We tell the whole world by our actions, our kindness to others and by living a good Catholic life.

Let us continue to ask the Holy Spirit to come upon us all and the entire Catholic Church to live now as sons and daughters of God our Father and then one day as co-heirs with Jesus to the everlasting life of Heaven.

On a more mundane and certainly more earthly note - our parish is being asked to conduct a second In-pew weekend for the Cardinal's Appeal this weekend. This is an important fundraiser for our Cardinal.

The Cardinal is responsible for many people as well as for the entire Archdiocese and we can support him by pledging a gift to this year’s Cardinal’s Appeal. All gifts are important no matter what amount you are able to give, but it is important that the entire parish give something to the Cardinal’s Appeal. Please make your tax deductible gift today for the 2019 Cardinal’s Appeal. Thank you!

The last two weekends in June I am going to be asking for the parish’s support in paying for some needed repairs to our Church. The front and back covers in the Church (where the radiators are located) have cracked because each time a repair has been done the covers are removed. I am spending $12,000.00 to have them replaced. However, now there will be a hinge on them so that they can be opened easily for service to the heating system. Please consider giving to a second collection to be held on the last two weekends of June (June 23rd and 30th.)

I am not asking for the parishioners to give both weekends. Please pick one of the weekends, if you are able, to help with these needed repairs. Also, we seem to have some water damage behind the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Benedict statues up in the front of the Church. You may have noticed the peeling paint! I will let the parish know what is going on as I learn more.

Thank you for your loving support of this beautiful parish.

Until next week, Happy Pentecost! St. Benedict and Cardinal Cooke, Servant of God, pray for us!

Fr. Stephen P. Norton