This week Father Anthony, Father Brendan and myself are with other priests of the Diocese at the multi-day convocation in Oglebay, West Virginia. Our gratitude to Father Nick, Father Molka and our Deacons, John and Dan, for holding down the fort in our absence. Please keep all of clergy of the diocese in your prayers in a special way during this week.

The Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the cooler temperatures, beautiful colors and the special saints’ feast days during this time.  Theresa, the Little Flower, on October 1 ^st and St. Francis of Assisi on October 4 ^th are some of my favorite holy friends. On Saturday October 5^th, in honor of St. Francis, we will bless animals (your pets) at St. Camillus at 10:30 AM on the grass in front of McGurk Hall. Ailis and I look forward to meeting you and your pet companions.

Thank you to our teens who are participating in our newly formed CYO coed volleyball at St. Camillus and also the youth ministry programs both for middle school and high school. Our next volleyball evening is October 13—we are challenging adults to take on our teens!

To truly be united as one parish, we need to be united liturgically. A major factor in this regard is our Music Ministry. Consequently, I am pleased to announce that Brenda Kostial is the Director of Music Ministry and our Assistant Director is Vickie Onufrak. They are joined by our accompanists, Sandy DeCarbo, Vinnie Gentile, and Lynda Jaworski Rapone. There are two adult choirs that will be rotating to our various parishes. Lou D'Angelo has volunteered to direct our Bell Choir. In the coming weeks, we will be developing two children’s choirs. Our musicians will be working with our children in Faith Formation to help provide vibrant liturgies to our Sunday Faith Formation Masses.

Living the faith and passing the faith on to the next generation is our ultimate goal at Holy Spirit Parish! Thank you to all of you who are doing your part to make this goal a reality in this community. There are many challenges that we face on a daily basis, but there is also a glorious outpouring of God’s grace enabling us to embrace the challenge and move forward in a beautiful way. May God bless all of you who are part of this very blessed family!

God bless you,