Easter is the time when we celebrate the new life that our Lord has offered us through his Resurrection.  As a Church, we rejoice in this promise of new life and are eager to share this Good News with everyone.  So, we are especially joyful when others join us.  At our Easter Vigil Mass last Saturday, we were privileged to welcome Grace Zwaan (wife of Matthew Zwaan) into the Church as she received all three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.  Additionally, we welcomed James Bryan (husband of Jessie Bryan), Richard Craft (husband of Jeanne Craft) and James Ryan (husband of Tara Ryan) into the fullness of the faith as they received the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist.  And, we rejoiced as Eduardo Egger (son of Louis and Sandra) and Brianna Layden (daughter of James and Renee) were fully initiated into the Church through the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Please join me in welcoming them into our family of faith!

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW PARISH

PASTORAL COUNCIL MEMBERS

Let me give a big “Thank you” to everyone who participated in the recent Parish Pastoral Council elections.  I am very grateful to the seven parishioners who accepted the nominations to be Council members.  And, I was impressed by the number of ballots we received – 370; this demonstrates a great interest among our parishioners!  Any of the nominees would have been excellent choices and the election results were close.  In the end, Sarah Bradley, Ed Kubala and Nick Lee received the highest votes and so I’m happy to announce that they will be joining our Parish Pastoral Council beginning in May.

I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank the three outgoing Council members:  Bill Bruno, Erika Murdocca and Betty Sabol.  They have served our parish well as members of the Pastoral Council for the past five years and I am grateful for the insights, reflections and advice they have offered me as we discussed a wide varieties of important topics concerning our parish.

I look forward to working with our Parish Pastoral Council as we continue to ensure that our parish continues to be a thriving, welcoming, evangelizing community of faith.  Please keep us all in your prayers, that the Holy Spirit of God will guide and direct us.

ESTABLISHING OUR BOARD OF LIMITED JURISDICTION

            You may recall that I announced last December the establishment of a Board of Limited Jurisdiction for our school.  Our principal, Bud Tosti, and I have worked carefully with Bethanne Killian, the Director of Governance and Board Development from the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education over these past several months to identify, invite and prepare 15 parishioners or school alumni who will be the pioneers to initiate this Board.  I am now very happy to announce that we held our first meeting this past Thursday when we installed Phil Hintze as Chair, Kevin Connor as Vice Chair, and Elizabeth Armstrong as Secretary.  These three Board members, along with Bud and I, comprise the Executive Committee of the Board.  The chairpersons for the other five Standing Committees were also announced:

  • Board Membership – Beth Stone;
  • Development – Jeanne Mulvanerty;
  • Enrollment – Sarah Leyden and Shannon Maguire;
  • Facilities – Catherine Lowry; and
  • Finance – Maria Recchilungo.

All of the other Board members – Margaret Mary Anderson, Joe Barba, Paul Djamoos, Julie Hayes, Bruer Kershner and Clare Spence – are also members of one of the five Standing Committees.  The Standing Committees will drive the Board to discover ways to stabilize and increase school enrollment, manage and strengthen its financial position, ensure that school facilities are properly maintained and appropriately improved and identify new Board members to assist in this ongoing work for the benefit of our school.  As I noted in my December article, this Board will not get involved in the everyday operation of the school but, in collaboration with the principal and pastor, will oversee these key areas of development, enrollment, facilities, finances and marketing to ensure the vibrancy of our school for many years to come.

I want to take this opportunity to thank these men and women who have already demonstrated their great love for our school and an eagerness to serve on this Board.  Bud and I look forward to working with them as we establish the Board; please keep us all in your prayers, that we may serve our school well!