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October 17, 2021
Thank You & Our Hearts to Your Soles
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I am very proud of you, the people of Holy Spirit Parish. Why would I say that? Because many of you take your discipleship in Jesus Christ seriously. You are people of prayer and you make true sacrifices to serve God and your neighbor. Not all who claim to be Catholic, or even Christian, not all who are registered as our parishioners, put their faith into action or fully participate in the sacraments. But those of you who do are making a huge impact in our parish and on our community. Let me give you a few examples: those of you who make the sacrifice to pray before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration Chapel at St. Mary provide our parish and community with spiritual power; those of you who volunteer in the
countless opportunities to serve your neighbor, whether it be the occasional blood drive or food preparation or those who assist with food and clothing distribution, those who call parishioners and ask if they need anything and check in on their neighbors; those who take the Blessed Sacrament to the sick, the homebound, nursing homes, hospitals and those who are temporarily homebound because of illness or surgery. The list goes on and on.
I am proud of those of you who joined Sr. Annie during the pandemic and provided thousands of meals for thousands of families for almost two years now! You who have sacrificed your time, talent and treasure to keep our food pantry serving so many in need.
Two years ago, we hosted Our Hearts to Your Soles, an outreach opportunity to provide socks, shoes and a heath-care examination to our homeless and those who are in severe need in our community. We did this prior to the pandemic and it included a health fair with volunteer doctors and nurses and many of our volunteers who served hundreds of people and gave away 220 pairs of shoes!
On Saturday, October 23rd, Our Hearts to Your Soles will take place once again. There are several areas where help is needed. There is a sign-up form in today’s bulletin. Return it, or call the main office at 724-652-3422 with your volunteer choice.
Also on the evening of Saturday, October 23rd, there are two events which have joined forces to give everyone a good time. Following the 4:00 pm Mass at St. Camillus there will be a team/family Scavenger Hunt with prizes. The prizes will be awarded at the Fall Bonfire at our St. James site which begins at 5:30 pm. In addition to the food and other goodies, there will also be a hayride at the bonfire. See the bulletin or website, hsplc.org, for details. Don’t forget to register for either or both of these events.
I am very proud of those of you who are working very hard to pull our community together with social activities. These kinds of events go far beyond just having a good time. They are occasions to build relationships and to serve one another. This is the service of the spirit. Other activities may be service to the flesh, but these occasions are service to the spirit. We all need to know the great gifts of camaraderie, support or interaction with people who are kind, loving and welcoming.
My dear faithful disciples of Holy Spirit Parish, I want you to know I am very proud of you!
God love you,
