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Two important liturgical announcements were in the news this week. The first was a joint announcement from the Bishops of Pennsylvania regarding the reinstatement of the obligation to attend Mass. The second was a statement from the Diocese of Pittsburgh regarding Pope Francis’ changes in the status of the Latin Mass.Read More -
Thank you to TJ Belsterling, our coordinator of Middle School & Youth Ministry. He hosted a fabulous, and first time ever, movie night on the lawn at the St. Camillus site. According to TJ: “It was a beautiful day, with volleyball, corn-hole, kickball, bocce ball, and yes, the movie! About 40 people came, from little ones and their parents to members of our youth group!” It was a wonderful opportunity for families and parishioners of all ages to come together and enjoy each other’s company.Read More -
Did you know that there is a National Association of Priest Pilots? It has actually been in existence for over 50 years! And, believe it or not, I am the current president of the group. The purpose of this association is for priests who also share an interest in aviation to come together, enjoy each other’s company, pray, and explore their common hobby and interest in flying. The mission of the group is to provide some assistance to those who actually use aviation in the service of the Catholic faith. Dioceses such as those in Alaska and other parts of the world where aviation is a necessity use pilots to reach the people of the dioceses and to bring them the sacraments.Read More -
Congratulations on two firsts for Holy Spirit Parish. Our first Annual Golf Outing was celebrated last Saturday at Castle Hills Golf Course. It was a smashing success! Enormous thanks to Ed and Gina Sharbaugh and their entire team of volunteers including some of our teachers and families and friends who volunteered to make this first annual outing an amazing time of fellowship and fun. All of their hard work raised much-needed revenue to support tuition relief for families in our parish sending their children to Catholic Schools.Read More -
Beginning this weekend, we have added a 7:00 am Mass at St. Vitus on Sundays. The Mass schedule is: on Saturday, 4:00 pm Mass at St. Camillus and at St. Vitus. On Sunday, 7:00 am Mass at St. Vitus, 8:00 am Mass at St. Camillus, 9:00 am Mass at St. Vitus, and 11:00 am Mass at St. Camillus.Read More -
We have four big celebrations this weekend. Blessings on all the men of the parish, especially our dear fathers, both living and deceased. On Saturday, June 19th, Fr. Anthony will celebrate the 4:00 pm Mass at St. Camillus followed by a reception. This is an opportunity for us to thank him and assure him of our continued prayers and support as he begins a new assignment at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. If you are unable to participate in his farewell reception you may want to send a card to: Fr. Anthony Sciarappa, St. Michael the Archangel, 311 Washington Rd, Pittsburgh PA 15216Read More -
On this glorious weekend, we celebrate the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua at our own St. Anthony of Padua Church in Bessemer. St. Anthony was a disciple of St. Francis who sought to serve Christ and see Christ in the poor and all in need. I am very proud of the people of St. Anthony’s and the entire parish of Holy Spirit who have, in the spirit of St. Anthony, graciously allowed Bethel Evangelical Presbyterian Church the use of St. Anthony Church for worship due to their own church being under construction. This is a beautiful example of Christian Catholics and non-Catholic Christians working together and sacrificing for each other.Read More -
On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Catholics throughout the world celebrate our faith in the true presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We believe our Savior is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity under the appearance of bread and wine every time we celebrate Holy Mass. In this sacrament, we become one with the living Christ. As Catholics, we also adore our Lord in the Holy Eucharist through Eucharistic Adoration.Read More -
My congratulations to all who were confirmed these past two weeks. Congratulations also to their parents and sponsors who participated in the sacrament. My thanks also for the gift I received from the Confirmation Class of 2021. Ailis appreciated it too.Read More -
As promised, this bulletin contains a complete and detailed financial statement of the 20-21 school year for Holy Spirit Academy. The Income Statement on Page 5 is an actual accounting of revenue and expenses recorded with the Diocese. The bottom line shows the rationale for the partnership and explains why the Advisory Council, the Pastoral Council and the Finance Council have all unanimously agreed that partnering with the Kennedy Catholic Family of Schools is the most sound financial decision at this time and the best possible scenario for our children.Read More
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August 4, 2019 Holy Spirit Parish in action
This week, beginning on August 7th, the first major festival of Holy Spirit Parish will begin and continue for four days! A huge thank you to everyone who has donated, volunteered and assisted in any way in making our first festival a reality! Special thanks to the festival committee which has worked for many months pulling this all together. It is a wonderful event of fellowship and fun for the entire community. None of it would be possible without many hours of volunteer help and organization. We give thanks to God for his many blessings and also for the gift of each other. See the schedule on our cover page which highlights the food special of each evening as well as the entertainment.
This past week, Sr. Annie led a summer work camp for girls in the parish of Holy Spirit. Three sisters of St. Francis and nine young teenage girls spent the week doing service projects at the parish sites of Christ the King and St. James. They also helped at the wonderful, young people’s and families’ picnic at St. James site this past Sunday. They washed tables down at St. Vitus for the upcoming parish festival and they hosted a pro-life baby shower with over 100 women and girls who came with gifts for Alpha & Omega and Catholic Charities. They ended their week visiting the Franciscan sisters in the Wexford area.
There was a fabulous family picnic for the young families of the parish hosted at St. James site this past weekend, Sunday, July 28, from 1 to 5 p.m. Thank you to Rose Butch for organizing the Holy Spirit Family Gathering and its activities, and all her volunteers, especially the core crew of Ilana Ilongo, Heather McCosby, Amy Chornenky, Jean Pascale, Joe Mercurio, Pete Pascale, Doug Butch, Lorrie Millette and Chris Baker, who got drenched in the dunk tank. See page 12 for pictures and more information. We look forward to having many such celebrations to get the families with children to know one another! Look out for their next adventure. Rose is already planning for a September 29 event from 5:00 to 9:00 pm.
God love you,
Fr. Mac
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July 28, 2019 Strategic Planning has begun
A few weeks ago, I invited all the interim Pastoral Council and Finance Council members, and some folks who have expressed interest in participating on these councils, to come to a very important strategic planning meeting on Saturday, July 27. This meeting took place from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm in McGurk Hall at St. Camillus. Facilitating this endeavor was consultant, Tom H. Murray.
Mr. Murray, founder and principle of Wexford Run Consulting, assists executives and senior managers with strategic planning, marketing, product management, and M&A activities. He leverages his expertise, structured approach, creativity, and coaching style to help executives and their teams create and implement growth initiatives.
Tom is a proven executive with over 20 years’ experience in high tech strategic planning, marketing, and product management. He has worked for high growth firms, both domestically and internationally, ranging from start-ups to multi-billion dollar organizations. His accomplishments include identifying and justifying strategic acquisition and OEM relationships, developing over 40 strategic analyses/proposals, managing over 15 product lines, conceiving and developing a $100M+ product line, and establishing the marketing foundations for two start-ups.
Mr. Murray is also an adjunct professor of Strategic Planning and Product Management courses at CMU's Graduate School holding a BSEE from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.
Over several hours, he guided us as we studied what it means to be a parish, developing our purpose and our goals as a parish community. In addition, we explored and examined all of our resources and how best we could use them to achieve our goals.
My hope is that after going through this process together and refining it with the leadership team, we will be able to come to all of you as a whole and go through the same process together to glean your input, insights, wisdom, and suggestions. We will host town hall meetings to ensure transparency. Please watch the bulletin and the Holy Spirit Parish website (see note below) at www.hsplc.org for announcements of these upcoming meetings.
God love you,
Fr. Mac
