Dear Parish Family,
A warm welcome back to all of our school children who start the new school year this Monday! We are so blessed as a parish family to be able to support our school families both prayerfully and financially. We will have a backpack blessing at all Masses the weekend of August 26-27. I ask the blessing of our Almighty God upon all school students in our local community, along with their families and faculty, for a year of growth in knowledge and in the conviction of God's love and divine assistance for each of them.
I wrote in my August 6 bulletin column about the new state scholarships available to make a Catholic school education an affordable reality for all families. It's hard for me to put into words how grateful I am to God for our state legislators' support of the EdChoice scholarship and the scholarship tax credit (Angel Scholarship Fund). Because of these scholarships, more children and their families will get the chance to know Jesus' love for them, realize their identity in Christ, and become the persons God made them to be. What a blessing before us!
I also want to encourage you to help us share and expand news of this blessing. Tell your family and friends about the new state scholarships which make Catholic education affordable, and in many cases, free. Please also consider making a contribution to the Angel Scholarship Fund at no net cost to you as a donor to support students with tuition scholarships which furthers the impact of our parish resources and keeps costs low for families. Visit https://stmarychardon.
Genesis of Gender Book Study
St. Mary Chardon is blessed to be a host parish for the Genesis of Gender book study sponsored by the Diocesan Marriage & Family Life Office and Theology of the Body Cleveland. The book study will be four consecutive Thursdays in September. This timely teaching will help us explore how God created us as male and female so we can better respond to the gender confusion in our culture. Our facilitator, Dr. Joel Johnson, will be at this Sunday's 10 am Mass to introduce himself and the book study. More information is available in today's bulletin and in the back of church. Visit https://www.tobcle.org/
Oktoberfest Invite
Save the date for our 2nd Annual Parish Oktoberfest on Sunday, September 17. We plan this annual celebration around the Birth of Mary to celebrate our parish community founded in 1909. We will start the celebration with a Polka Mass at 12:00 pm in the main tent in the rear parking lot, and have some delicious German food and beverages from 1 - 7 pm. We have lots of fun activities planned for all ages. Oktoberfest is free to attend, and food and drink tickets can be purchased at the door or by online preorder. Please consider volunteering for a shift for a few hours. We have over 80 volunteer positions to fill for people of all ages for Saturday prep and Sunday at the event. Visit https://stmarychardon.
I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow