I want to begin by thanking those of you who have offered your words of encouragement and gratitude regarding the schedule of the two parish Listening Sessions as a forum to discuss our responses, individually and as a Church to the sex abuse scandal. The sessions are this Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm and this coming Thursday at 7:00pm. We will meet in the parish center. This is not intended as a presentations but as a forum for conversation. Please join us if you can.
Next I shift to two matters that are very encouraging to me as a priest and as your pastor. One concerns our active participation in the Northbridge Association of Churches. Nola Stefancyk has done an extraordinary job of keeping us in the loop, and shepherding our efforts to participate in and support the many wonderful, ecumenical efforts of the association. I would like to thank her, in your name, and also thank two members of the parish who have responded to Nola’s request for assistance in this ministry moving forward: Sharon Dupre and Marie Bastone. Sharon and Marie already share in our life of prayer and ministry in significant ways, and I am grateful to them for their willingness to step up in this new way!
The second concerns the ministry of sharing in assisting couples preparing to celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage. Since this is a ministry “in the background,” I want to be certain to offer a GREAT measure of our gratitude to Kathy and Bill Mancini who have met this need in our parish for many years, and our offer of prayerful support to Doreen and Ron Giard who have accepted my invitation to succeed Kathy and Bill. Next weekend we will celebrate officially this transition.
Fr. Tom