Dear Folks,

Congratulations on Parish Life Weekend! I take full credit for the beautiful weather last weekend! Just kidding… St. Scholastica is my personal intercessor for weather issues. Google how she prayed for rain so her brother, St. Benedict, would have to stay longer on his visit so that they could converse of the Lord!

Over 485 people signed up to serve in various ministries, groups, and projects and the numbers keep climbing as folks continue to reach out to ministry leaders directly. It’s not too late to sign-up to serve. See the “Gifts” page in the bulletin, fill it out and return it to the parish office and a member of our Stewardship Team will contact you to help guide you to a ministry that’s right for you. Or, you can contact the leader of a particular ministry directly. The Ministry Catalog is on our website and copies are available in the office too! Parish Life Weekend is a personal invitation to serve and we all need to take a step and continually strive to fight complacency! I know our lives are overwhelmingly busy, but the rewards of service are great when we step out in faith.

A special thank you to the Stewardship and Parish Life Committees for hosting the event as well as the members of TMIY, Fight Club and Youth Ministry for assisting in set-up and breakdown. The American Heritage Girls for serving refreshments and parish staff for their planning and support. These things don’t get pulled off without a lot of work and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. Because I am not mentioning the names of all of those who assisted, I will pray a Hail Mary before I finish typing this sentence, as a prayer of gratitude for your generosity. Done.

Additionally, last weekend saw our diocese closing out its 50th anniversary celebrations with Mass at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC! 2 bishops, 70+ priests, and a very full church of faithful from all over the diocese! It made me think, “We need to organize a parish pilgrimage.

Let’s find a time to make a pilgrimage to the newly renovated Cathedral and even maybe to the church I helped to build in Leesburg too!” Here is a picture of the Bishop incensing the altar!

Have a blessed week and enjoy the Columbus Day holiday on Monday!

Pax,

Father John Mosimann