Dear Parish Family,

We hear the Beatitudes which begin Jesus's foundation teaching. Jesus would have preached this sermon many times, to great crowds on mountain, hillsides, plains, and even from the Sea of Galilee. The Beatitudes summarize the entirety of His sermon which is Jesus' invitation for us to be like Him in all ways. Conforming our life to His life rather than to the ways of the world will ensure our lives will be abundantly 'blessed.' Which Beatitude pierces your heart most profoundly this weekend? This is the Lord calling to you to be like Him!

I am excited to embark on another Catholic Schools Week in the days ahead. We give thanks to God for the gift of our Catholic faith and upbringing, especially for the opportunity to have a Catholic School right here in our parish. We have fun celebrations every day this week, and a special State of the School address on Tuesday at 6:30 pm for school parents. At that meeting, we will address where we've been and where we're going, as well as share details about the tuition scholarships available to us, due largely to the Angel Scholarship Fund. St. Mary School received nearly $140,000 through the Angel Scholarship tax credit scholarship this year. If your family is on the fence about enrolling in Catholic grade school, please reach out to me. I eagerly want to share with you how affordable a Catholic education can be, and make it work for your family.

As part of Catholic Schools Week, I invite you join us for Mass with our school this Tuesday at 8:30 am for a special Month's Mind Requiem Mass for Pope Benedict XVI who passed away last month on December 31, 2022. This Mass with our school children will focus on the gift of our pope to the Church, and on the blessing that our vocations bring to the Church. 

We will have blessed candles available in the gathering space after Mass this Thursday for a $2.00 donation. These candles are blessed for Candlemas day, more properly known as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2. You can take them home with you to remind you of the Lord's presence with you.

I invite you to come to Mass this Friday at 7:30 am for a special Blessing of Throats for the Memorial of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr. These individual blessings come with a powerful intercessory prayer, "Through the intercession of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness."

As we continue to pray for Fr. Spisak during his sick leave, I wanted to let you know that Fr. Jeff Barnish will be serving as our interim weekend associate to assist with Masses. He will be a regular presence in the time ahead and alternate Masses with me between St. Mary Chardon and St. Patrick Thompson. I invite you to read his bio in this weekend's bulletin and to welcome Fr. Barnish when you see him. We are blessed to have him, and he is blessed to have you!

I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow