Last Sunday afternoon, as I was leaving our first combined “Seasons of Saints” parish picnic, a number of you came up and shared how much you enjoyed the afternoon. We all appreciated the time and energy that so many people put into planning and preparing the event. I heard many of you make remarks like: “It’s good to see people from all three parishes” and “We should do more things together.” To me it sounded like an echo from the Psalms: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers (and sisters!) dwell in unity!”

Yes, we should do more things together—a great way to build the unity Christ always desires for his Church.

Let me talk about another opportunity for us to grow in our common mission for the gospel. I’m talking about some changes in our parish religious education programs.

Recently, Karen Balestino asked to step down from her position as Director of Religious Education at St. Boniface Parish. I’m sure we’re all grateful for her contributions to our parish’s life over the past several years. She’s certainly impacted so many people—children and families, parents getting ready for a baptism, adults looking to understand their faith. We’ll still see her around—especially in the areas of adult formation and baptismal prep.

We’ve just moved Tiffany Haller from DRE at St Ann’s Parish to DRE at both St Boniface and St Ann Parishes. Additionally, we’ve hired Jessica Renninger as Assistant DRE for both parishes. This past year we’ve worked to align the curriculum between the two parishes. We’ve had positive experiences with combined retreats and shared celebration of First Reconciliation. We want to continue that momentum as we look for other ways we can work effectively together—especially as we continue the important task of passing on our Catholic faith to new generations. Tiffany and Jessica will be at all Masses next weekend, August 1st & 2nd .

Please note: We’ve not consolidated our two parish programs. Neither parish has the physical space to encompass both (remember, both our schools are used by other folks during the week). And our combined Mass schedule doesn’t leave an open window for running a consolidated program (we don’t want to disadvantage any portion of our community by running a program while Mass is going on).

Please help us! First of all, keep everyone involved in your prayers. The Psalmist also says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” We need God’s strength and grace to do this work—parents, catechists, DREs, staff members. And, if you feel at all that the Lord might just be calling you to be a catechist, please talk to us! We have openings for this coming year. We’ll certainly do all we can to support you as you take on this ministry. Let’s all make this change another graced moment to dwell in unity.