Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Happy August! This is a great time to be in north central Indiana. The sweet corn is ready. The State Fair is getting ready to start. And NASCAR is coming to Indianapolis! Life doesn’t get any better than this – at least while we’re in this world.

It is that time of the year again when we are welcoming a lot of new members and families to our Parish family. And again, I’d like to remind all of us of how important it is for us to be introducing ourselves and saying ‘hello’ to our new brothers and sisters. If you are sitting by someone that you don’t know, if you park next to someone that you don’t know, if you are at a meeting with somebody that you don’t know, then PLEASE take the time to introduce yourself. Here at St. Maria Goretti we have worked hard to make hospitality and a welcoming environment a priority. This is true for everybody, but especially for our new brothers and sisters. As we get bigger, we must all commit ourselves to this outreach and continue to reach out to every single person. You would be surprised at how YOU can be Jesus to somebody else at just the right time in their life. A kind word, a simple friendly gesture, or a compassionate action is how a true Christian community shows its faith. May St. Maria Goretti ALWAYS be that kind of community for all!

Because we have so many new people with us lately, it is probably a good time to remind everyone of some of our traffic concerns. Currently at St. Maria Goretti, we have one entrance into our campus from Spring Mill Road. That two-way drive comes onto our property and makes a loop, at a Y intersection out by our maintenance garage. From that Y, or when the loop begins, the drive becomes a one-way loop providing access to our school and church. The circle or loop runs counter-clockwise for the safety of all. At no time should anybody, even priests or deacons living off the loop, be driving in the wrong direction. Guys, this is for the safety of us all. In just a couple of months, we will get our second entrance onto the campus which will be right next to the rectory from 169 th St. It will also have a two-way flow into our new south parking lot, which will have its own traffic pattern. Then there will be the two-way drive that passes in front of the rectory (the current rectory driveway) that will connect our north (or current) parking lot and the new south lot off of 169 th St. This is going to be really awesome. As we continue construction on the new church, your patience and your carefulness are again asked for, as part of our drive is blocked for the construction.

I’d also ask you to remember that one-fifth of this Parish family is under the age of twelve. While this is very good for the future of this Parish, we do want to remember that children don’t always look both ways, and that sometimes our children do run out into the drive. We can’t be too cautious. We need to slow down when approaching the buildings. We need to be constantly aware that there are young children all around our campus. Our school does an excellent job of protecting our students during the week as they are dropped off or picked up from school. That is a much more controlled environment. We have much less control on the weekend. There is near constant traffic flow coming in and out on the drive, and there is almost the constant presence of young children. Please drive carefully, keep your speed down, and help us to protect everybody!

To keep a clear view when approaching the buildings, and to avoid the fire lanes that are necessary for emergency vehicles, you are reminded not to park in front of any of the buildings or in any of the “no parking” zones, that have been designated along the drive. Cars or trucks parked in the wrong place become obstacles to the safety of all of us. Wouldn’t it be horrible if it were your family member or loved one who needed emergency medical service, and the ambulance couldn’t get up to the building because of cars not parked properly? Let’s park our vehicles where all of us can be safe.

These are simple things. They are not hard to do. And they do help all of us to get along better here while we are building the Kingdom of God!

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

You can tell how big a person is
by what it takes to discourage him.