Finally! Celebrating Mass With You!

Finally, the opportunity to celebrate Mass with you publicly! What a glorious weekend this is in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and particularly in Holy Spirit Parish. On this Holy Trinity Sunday when we reflect on the self-revelation of God, one God in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are encouraged to be united in faith and love. As there is a divine unity within God Himself, so may there be unity among His people!

I am very grateful to McClure Realty for allowing us to use this parking lot in front of the former Sears building as a place for us to gather safely to worship God. We are also very grateful to all the tenants in this plaza for their acceptance of our presence here. Please express your own gratitude to the various businesses in this plaza. You may want to write them a note, or just say something to the store managers and certainly patronize their businesses as a sign of our gratitude for their acceptance of our presence here.

How good it is to be able to celebrate our faith and receive our Lord in this most Holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Thank you to all of you for your cooperation, your patience. And your deep faith!


Besides this exciting day, we also have the joy of congratulating Chris Baker (3rd from the left in the picture) of our parish, who has been accepted into St. Paul Seminary to study for the priesthood. Chris served as our mission trip coordinator at the former St. James the Apostle Parish in Pulaski. He is now a member of Holy Spirit Parish and has served our youth in various ways. He is known most for his youth fundraising hoagie sales across the parish. He also recruited and worked with our youth to be the excellent Ambassadors of Hospitality who served at Holy Spirit’s 1st Mardi Gras Celebration 2020.

On June 1, we welcomed Merv Knieriem. Merv is currently in graduate studies at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA. He has been assigned to us for his pastoral year just as Deacon Matthew Hawkins was. Speaking of Deacon Matthew, he will be ordained a priest on June 27, at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Congratulations to Deacon Matt who will soon be Father Matthew Hawkins. Details about his celebration and first Mass will be forthcoming.

Merv’s home parish is Madonna del Castello Parish in Swissvale. In the past, he has studied Criminal Justice and Criminology at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Before seminary, he held various jobs, including one at Continental Airlines. Having been accepted into the priestly formation program in the fall of 2016, his studies for the priesthood have taken him to St. Paul Seminary, Duquesne University, St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, University of Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska. Assigned to begin theological studies at Saint Vincent Seminary in 2018, Merv just completed his second year of theological studies there. Please welcome him and the many talents he has that he brings to our parish and ultimately to the priesthood.

God love you,