|
 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings on this last weekend of August of 2009! Parish
Religious Education (PRE) begins today and tomorrow. We welcome back all of our
children and young folks! I’d like to offer my thanks and appreciation to all
of those who stepped-up to teach in our religious education program. It takes
an army of folks these days. I am most grateful to each one of you!
This week, I’d also like to thank Evan Sailor. Evan is
the son of Steve and Eileen Sailor, long-time parishioners of St. Maria
Goretti. Evan is a student at St. Theodore Guerin Catholic High School and is a
past-graduate of St. Maria Goretti Catholic School. Evan recently completed his
Eagle Scout project here at the Parish, on the south parking lot. You’ve got to
drive over, or walk by, and see it! He put another basketball goal, he built
these ring games, for the children to play at recess, and he built an
all-weather storage bench, not only for folks to have a place to sit down and
rest, but also a place to safely and securely store balls and other sports
equipment right there on the south lot, so that it doesn’t have to be carried
back and forth from the school. Well done, Evan! Your Parish is very grateful
and proud of you for your efforts. We have been extraordinarily blessed by
several outstanding Boy Scout Eagle projects in the last few years. It is
another one of the many blessing of being a parish with an active and
participating Boy Scout troop. Our guys, our scouts, have had a great sense of
exactly what we need, as a Parish family. I am most grateful to everyone who
works so hard in all of our scouting programs for our youth! Your work has
certainly paid off. We have many fine young men and women who are coming out of
our scouting programs. Last weekend’s Senior Dinner Dance is another beautiful
example. Put on entirely by our Girl Scouts, a beautiful evening was had by
all!
The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) has
recently published a document on our position on Health Care Reform in this
country. As the national debate gets more and more intense on all sides, the
Bishops are asking us to keep several points in mind, as we struggle to find the
best way to Reform Health Care. First of all, a truly universal health policy
is called for, with respect for human life and dignity. This coverage would
hopefully be from conception until natural death, and would continue the federal
ban on funding for abortions. The Church prays for access for all to health
care, with a special concern for the poor and the inclusion of legal
immigrants. We are challenged to work for the common good and to preserve
pluralism, including freedom of conscience and a variety of options. The
Bishops also remind us that we must work at restraining costs and applying them
equitably across the spectrum of payers. The Bishops remind us that as
Catholics we SHOULD be involved in this national debate. We are all encouraged
to call our members of Congress (Use the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121
to contact your Representative or Senators) and let them know that Health Care
Reform should take into account all of these points. For more information,
please visit the newly created USCCB website at:
http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/
. The website deals with the following areas: The position of the Catholic
Church concerning health care reform, facts and statistics, a video message, and
action steps/how to get involved.
As we announced last weekend, we continue to anticipate
the move of our Sunday evening, 5:00 PM Mass to 5:30 PM, beginning on Sunday,
September 13th. All of
us need to keep this change in mind, especially as we get closer to the date.
Our RCIA class continues to grow each Monday evening.
I’ve got a feeling that this is really going to be an excellent class this
year. God has brought us some really awesome individuals! If you or someone
that you know, are interesting in joining the Catholic Church this year, or just
finding out more about it, please come and join us on Monday evenings at 7:00 PM
in the Parish Narthex.
We also continue to look for good folks to make the
Christ Renews His Parish weekends, coming up soon. The Men’s Christ Renews His
Parish weekend is Sept. 26th
& 27th, and the Women’s
Christ Renews His Parish weekend is Oct. 10th
& 11th. If you haven’t
made a Christ Renews His Parish weekend yet, we’d love to have you join us this
fall!
Have a great week! If you’re going to be traveling for
Labor Day weekend, have a safe trip and get back to us soon! Take care.
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
God is not interesting. He is deeply upsetting. |
