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August 7, 2022
Where does the time go?
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Most people think the Best of the Fest refers to the delicious food our master chefs provide. That is true! But it means far more to me. The Best of the Fest also means our amazing parishioners themselves! What a fabulous group, people of all ages, willing to volunteer their time, talent and treasure to Holy Spirit Parish and our ultimate mission of living our Catholic faith and sharing our faith with others. The Best of the Fest on Friday and Saturday of this past week is a beautiful example, not only of our culinary skills, but more importantly, of our desire as a parish community to make an impact and a difference in Lawrence County.
A special thank you to our leadership who kept us organized and on task. We appreciate Bob Hetrick, Mike Marshall, Sharon Marshall, Michelle Burick, Jean Pascale, Marc Caminiti, Tom Leihy and Rick Rager as well as everyone who shared their time and talent with the Best of the Fest.
We were all very blessed this year to have our celebration expanded to include community participation. We were very honored this year to have our dear friends of St. John the Baptist Maronite Church and also St. George Greek Orthodox Church added to Best of the Fest. Their presence and their amazing food truly enriched our entire gathering! We look forward to doing even more fun things together in the future as we seek to build community of unity and hope!
Where has the summer gone! Here we are already concluding the first week of August and September is just around the corner. Most schools will begin at the end of August. It is strange how time always passes in a very fixed way yet how we experience the passing of time can vary from moment to moment. When we are enjoying life, time seems to pass so quickly. When we are in pain or suffering, time seems to drag on. In some sense, perhaps time or our experience of it, is more a state of mind than a state of reality. There is a beautiful thought that we always used when we did the retreats for the inmates at the Youth Development Center in New Castle. The metanoia retreats always had this theme at the beginning of each new day. Perhaps it should be something we all reflect upon at the beginning of every day:
“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good, but whatever I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in it’s place something I have traded for it. I want it to be gain and not loss, good and not evil, success and not failure, in order that I shall not regret the price I have paid for it.”
It is true that we are all in time. But how we spend our time makes the difference between greatness, mediocrity, and failure. Let us all pray for the grace to use the time that God has given us in this life to accomplish his will and our neighbor’s good.
Congratulations to Nicholas Rzodkiewicz, a member of Boy Scout Troop 712, who recently completed his Eagle Scout project and board of review. Fr. Brendan will be offering the invocation and benediction at Nicholas’ Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony this Sunday.
Thank you to everyone who made the Best of the Fest a good time for everyone. Our next major celebration will be our parish picnic at Cascade Park on Sunday, September 11th. See pages 12 & 13 of this bulletin for more information on the parish picnic.
Perhaps the Lord will bless us with a beautiful day like He did last year. Looking forward to being with all of you. Wishing you all a very blessed, healthy and joyous week.
God love you,
