"Alleluia!!!"
As we celebrate this Seventh Sunday of Easter, we have celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord on Thursday, and we look ahead to our celebration of Pentecost next Sunday. We look back and ahead, as we do so often in the experience of our Faith. Our life in Christ, so often, highlights the “both and” nature of living in and serving Him.

At this time I want to acknowledge and thank the many families who have taken their share in the work of religious education and faith formation this year. Our young people “hung in there” with us as our adult volunteers adjusted our approach to this ministry under the conditions required due to Covid 19. By the means available for our use, we have persevered in our mission to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God!

On Pentecost, at each of the Masses, parishioners who began meeting essentially to serve as volunteers in this year’s programming with our young people will be blessed to serve on a newly formed and much appreciated Faith Formation Committee. They are accepting responsibility for the development of this ministry into our future.

As part of that future, we are embracing an initiative to identify and welcome a Minister of Faith Formation whose initial focus would be the programming for all of our young people. Since Faith Formation runs through parish ministry in many ways, from Baptismal preparation to every other manner of sacramental preparation, from social ministries like Mission Service to Peace of Bread, we are agreed that we are seeking someone with the theological, educational, and pastoral ministry training and background that will be needed. I am grateful to report that we have received an anonymous grant of $11,000 for this coming year and the commitment of an equal amount for the following year to help ease us into the budgetary requirements of this development. The Faith Formation Committee and a separate but related Fund Raising Committee that is just now forming will work to ensure that we will be able to sustain this commitment financially in time to come.

I am both grateful for who we are and all that we have done in service to Christ and His People, and hopeful as we look ahead to who we will be and how we will serve Him here at St. Peter’s in time to come! “The Lord has set his throne in heaven … the Lord has consecrated us in truth!”
Fr. Tom