Dear Parishioners,

For this bulletin letter, I would like to update you on some of the wonderful things that have been hap- pening in our parish and that will happen in the upcoming month.

The Monday Night Bible Study, “The Bible and the Sacraments,” has been going well. I knew it was a good series and even though I am not always a fan of pre-made studies, this has so far proven to be very fruitful. Everyone who has attended it has learned a lot and have also been learning how our faith connects to our sacramental and liturgical life as Catholics. If you want to get a sample of what we have been learning, the first two episodes of the series can be found on the St. Paul Biblical center website: https://stpaulcenter.com/ streaming/ and if you would like to stop by and learn with us, we meet Monday nights at 7 pm in the school conference room.

• On October 8th at the 12 Noon mass, we will be honoring Sr. Bernadette Schuler (who is our Director of Religious Education) for her 50th Anniversary of being a religious sister. Sr. Bernadette really does a lot for our CCD program and for the parish in general. It will be wonderful to do something good for her in return.
• October 15th after the 12 Noon Mass (weather permitting) will be our Parish Picnic which will be a “Fall Festival”. We will have good food, games for children and other fun things. Unlike in previous years, we will charge people as they come rather than trying to sell tickets before hand. (See more information on page 3.)
• Family Board Game night is going strong. We get 20-30 people per evening enjoying fellowship and games. The next one will be on October 20th at 5 pm. If you would like to give a board game a try and do not know where to start, I’ll be teaching a fun story telling game called, “Dixit.” Just let me know if you’re interested and I’ll save a spot for you.
• Friday, October 27th at 6pm, the school will hold their Trunk-or-Treat Fundraiser. This is a fun event for the kids with candy and costumes.
• The Reading Group (which meets about every other Thursday in the conference room) is also going well. We are about to finish Peter Kreeft’s “Catholics and Protestants: What we can learn from each other”. It has proven to be an insightful view into what divides the Church in our post-reformation world and how to overcome it, recognizing Christ’s will that we should all be One Church. If we finish it on time, we will begin a new book on November 9th: “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis. This is one of the greatest works of Christian spirituality that contains many meditations to apply the faith to one’s life.

Lastly, though we do not have an event on the calendar yet, we have been planning for the Youth Ministry. Though I cannot say anything now, we have assembled a team of people who really want to see this happen and we are right now working on the details. When I have more details I can share, I’ll let you know. And if you are interested in helping with Youth Ministry, feel free to let me know. We can always use more help.

If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at my email address: toddcarterpriest@gmail.com

Peace,

Fr. Carter