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On September 18th & 19th, Catechetical Sunday Weekend (when our religious educational program begins for our children), you will find 150 Red Envelopes on tables in the back of our churches. The Red Envelope is a simple fundraiser for our Faith Formation Program.

If you were part of any choir in any of the church sites of Holy Spirit parish, consider this your invitation to return. If you were not part of a choir in the past, but have a pleasing voice and love to sing, please join us!

As we begin this new school year, it is exciting to know that we have over 40 students going to our new partnership with St. John Paul II Elementary School and the Kennedy Catholic Family of Schools! Our pledge to help with tuition relief in our support of Catholic Education for the children in Lawrence County continues. Friends of Catholic Education is the organization in our parish that assists our families that have children in Catholic school. We not only support those going to St. John Paul II Elementary School, but any child in our parish that attends a Catholic elementary school. We have two children from the parish in other Catholic schools in the diocese that we also support financially with tuition relief. If there are others in the parish, we would support them as well.

Today I would like to put a plug in for the Permanent Diaconate. Bishop Zubik recently called for a new class of permanent deacons for our diocese. The call to the permanent diaconate is one of service to the Church. For deacons, one of the most inspiring Gospel stories is Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. “As I have done for you,” he told them, “You should also do.” This call to humble, loving service is the very heart of every deacon’s ministry.

Have you Moved? Have a new Phone Number? A new Email Address? Email your changes to Rhonda Dolin at rdolin@hsplc.org or call her at the parish office: 724-652-3422 Ext. 2212. She will update your records.

Applications are available for the Anna M. & Joseph Pascale Memorial Scholarship, which is given annually to a high school graduating senior who plans to attend college in the fall. The $ 1,000.00 scholarship amount may be used for books or college tuition.

To get ready for the Holy Spirit Feast Day on Pentecost, the parish will begin a nine-day novena to the Holy Spirit. The Novena will begin May 14 following the 9 am Mass live-streamed at St. Vitus Church and after the morning Mass each day of the novena.

As you know, we are very blessed to have Chris Baker as our seminarian studying for the priesthood at St. Paul Seminary in Crafton. In a note to the parish, Chris wrote, "Here we are, it’s late April and classes are wrapping up. Can you have senioritis as a freshman? 

Calling all gardeners! The Food Pantry at St. Joseph Site wants to include home-grown vegetables to the food it provides. Gardeners of Holy Spirit are invited to harvest their extra squash, zucchini, peppers, beets, tomatoes, potatoes etc. and donate them to the Food Pantry this summer...

Beginning May 1 at 4:00 pm, there will be a Mass in St. Joseph the Worker Church to celebrate the Feast day of the patron saint of the church, St. Joseph the Worker. A schedule for the other feast day Masses and additional details will will be coming soon.

Governed by Covid-19 concerns, plans for Mardi Gras events including a cash raffle, an online public silent auction, and a festive drive through dinner were realized to the delight of the organizers. In addition, the culinary expertise of the parish was put to work planning and producing excellent fish dinners on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent in February and extending into March. Lent was well on its way.

Some parishioners have expressed concerns about the coronavirus vaccine. Fr. Bremdan Dawson, leader of the Holy Spirit Parish Covid-19 Safety Team offeres an explanation.

Praise God! Through your generosity, Holy Spirit Parish provided Christmas Gifts for 306 children and 275 seniors in nursing homes.

Deacon John reports that a year or so ago the Pastoral Staff realized a new van was needed for the use of Holy Spirit Parish and Holy Spirit Academy. They began setting funds aside to purchase one in the future. Thanks to the continued support of our parish, the purchase of a new van was realized.

On Wednesday, November 4, the Perpetual Adoration Chapel of Holy Spirit Parish located at St. Mary’s will reopen from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Chapel has been closed for several months to undergo renovations. During that time, Adoration was available from the lower parking lot of St. Joseph the Worker. The last day for Adoration at St. Joseph’s will be Sunday, November 1.

On Saturday, October 17, at 9:00 am, Holy Spirit will have an Anointing Mass at St. Vitus Church. During the liturgy, the priests will anoint all parishioners desiring this sacrament at the Mass.

In order to have additional parishioners at indoor weekend Masses, St. Mary’s Church will be opened for an early morning Sunday Mass beginning October 11. Even with social distancing in this church, Holy Spirit Parish will be able to accommodate 136 more people at Mass.

The Family Program, our homeschool Faith Formation, held a drive-through meeting and book pick-up for participating families. Assisting Cathy Frank in matching and delivering the materials available to the families were four youths from the parish.

On September 19th, we will begin hearing confessions at St. Vitus Church instead of St. Camillus parking lot. When you enter St. Vitus Church from 11:00 am until noon, you will celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation, not in the confessionals, but in the cry room, the priest sacristy or the main entry where the original baptismal font is.

After much study and consultation with our pastoral leadership team as well as our Pastoral Council and Finance Council, we are going to begin the transition of moving into churches on September 12th.