From the Pastor: September 10, 2023
Dear Parishioners,
To those of you who have been away for the summer months, welcome home! For those who remained in the City throughout the summer, congratulations! You survived another one. And to those who join us remotely through our livestreamed Masses, we are delighted you are members of our parish community.
The pace of the parish certainly slowed during the summer months. However, that is not to say that the parish staff and many of the ministries of the parish were not hard at work. I am grateful for the dedication of our Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, and altar servers throughout the summer. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul continued its good work. Our Ignatian Social Justice Ministry was particularly invested in accompanying migrant families in the City. Many of our parish ministries enjoyed social events among themselves to recharge their batteries and plan for the coming year.
I am also grateful for the dedication of the parish priests who worked throughout the summer and also enjoyed some time away for their vacations. We were blessed by the presence of a few Jesuits who filled in the gaps during the summer, especially Father Matt Cortese, who interrupted his doctoral studies at the University of Notre Dame to be with us for several weeks.
We begin our “new year” this weekend as we resume our full weekend schedule of Masses. Our coffee hour begins again, following the 11:00 AM Masses. We will also have the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with the various ministries of the parish and hopefully join at least one of them. I understand there will also be some live musical entertainment to accompany our milling about on Park Avenue and 84th Street.
Next weekend the Wallace Hall Family Mass and 11:00 AM Solemn Mass communities will come together for our Festival Mass. We will use that occasion to celebrate Father Hilbert’s 50th Jubilee as a Jesuit. There will be a reception in McKinnon Hall immediately following the Mass.
Finally, the final phase of our parish planning process will conclude in the Fall with the publication of our Implementation Plan. I mentioned this in this weekend’s bulletin essay and will write more about what this means for all of us as we roll out the plan.
What a joy it is for us to return home to our parish and begin afresh, filled with hope for the coming year and the future of our beloved parish.
God bless you!
Sincerely in the Lord,
Fr. Yesalonia