Dear Parish Family,

This weekend of Corpus Christi, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus, given to us sacramentally at our Mass. On the night before He offered His Body and Blood on the Cross, Jesus offered His Body and Blood to His disciples at the Last Supper. With the Apostles, we proclaim His death and resurrection until He comes again, and He is already with us in the Holy Eucharist! Be sure to spend some time at church this week before the Blessed Sacrament, and thank Jesus for sharing the gift of His life, death, and resurrection with us!

 

As we celebrate Corpus Christi, we have free copies of the book, "Beautiful Eucharist," available in the back of church. Please pick up a copy. This book contains a collection of reflections from inspiring Catholic authors to deepen our faith and devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist. I pray these reflections lead you into a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus!

 

On this weekend of Corpus Christi, we will also hold a Eucharistic Procession through the Chardon Square after the 12 pm Mass at St. Mary's. In case of inclement weather, we will do a short procession through the Church and have time for Adoration until 2:30 pm. May our Eucharistic Lord grant us the grace to profess our faith with joy and gladness in our Church and in our world!

 

Our new Director of Youth Ministry, Nicky Gutierrez, began his work at St. Mary and St. Patrick Parishes this past week. We are looking forward to having Nicky minister to our young disciples and continue to help their faith grow!

 

This is the final week to leave a legacy at the parish with a Prayer Plaque donation. The Prayer Plaques will be displayed in the new St. Mary rectory chapel and in the narthex of the church. Funding from the Prayer Plaques will help with ancillary costs for the new rectory like landscaping and furnishings, and other future capital needs at the parish. Forms are available in the back of the church. Thank you for your support of our parish!

Our Parish Council and I are always grateful for parishioner comments dropped in the suggestion box. Some of these are affirmative of the good we do, while others challenge us to grow in a certain respect as a parish family. Please know that our Parish Council and I take time to read through, discuss, and address each comment at our council meetings. While some comments and ideas are not feasible for us to implement, please know that it is immensely helpful for you to leave your name and an email or phone number so we can follow up with you. Many comments are context dependent, and it is difficult to address the idea or comment adequately when we have no ability to follow up with the parishioner making the 

remark. I love having the opportunity to talk through our council discussion with the person who made the comment. I also imagine it is helpful for the person making the comment to know that they have been heard and their comment has been addressed by the council. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and love for our parish community!

Please keep our Vacation Bible School students in your prayers this week as they gather to focus on "Finding Jesus our True North." Fr. Fabian, Deacon Bob, and I look forward to teaching them about the saints and our Catholic devotions. A big thank you to Darlene Ciani and our volunteers who are coordinating and facilitating VBS this year!

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow