Fr. Mike's Message - 08/16/2020

Dear Parishioners,

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your kind welcome to me as your new Pastor. I am excited to be here and to serve in this capacity alongside our wonderful staff. It is obvious to me to see the many ways this parish is blessed by so many active parishioners who come together in person or remotely on a regular basis to pray, even amidst the scaffolding and the pandemic.

We had the blessing of welcoming back our teachers for the 2020-2021 School Year. What a wonderful group of people that we have engaged in leading our school and forming our children! Our first day of school is scheduled for this Wednesday, August 19th, and we are looking forward to welcoming the students back to school. This year, as we all know, is posing challenges for all of us on many different levels. Under the leadership of Mrs. Pahl, our Principal, we have developed plans that revolve around doing everything we can do to keep our students, faculty, and staff as safe as possible. Please pray for a successful and safe school year. And know that our school community will be praying for you.

A couple of updates and reminders about things going on around the parish:

• We have Missalettes available for your use. If you would like to take one, please use it during Mass, take it home with you, and bring it back to Church with you. In our effort to keep things as sanitized as possible, we cannot leave the books in the pews.
• During the ceiling renovation, our Masses will be celebrated in Church on Saturday morning and evening, and on Sunday mornings. On weekdays, Masses will be held in Jesuit Hall on the 3rd floor. If there are any exceptions to these locations and times, we will post signs to help guide you to the right place.

As we announced last weekend, it was a difficult but necessary decision to change up our plans for the annual Fall Festival. For this year, we are sponsoring a Fall Festival Raffle in order to help raise some much needed funds for our parish along with giving us another opportunity to work together toward a common goal of strengthening us as a parish family. We invite you to participate and invite your family members, friends and neighbors to participate as well. Raffle tickets have been mailed. Additional tickets can be picked up at the parish office or purchased online. Tickets are $50 each. Prizes include first place of $5000, second place of $2500 and third place of $1000. We will hold an early bird drawing of $500 on Sunday, August 30th. The early bird winner will be placed back into the contest for the final prizes to be drawn on Sunday, September 13th. Thank you for any support you can give to the Fall Festival Raffle. 

Thank you for all you do to support our parish, especially during these trying times. Your prayerful, financial and volunteer support are greatly appreciated and so necessary as we continue to provide a high level of service to all who call our parish home and to all who visit us.

David Tobben of our parish, along with twenty-one classmates, will be ordained to the Sacred Order of the Permanent Diaconate at the Cathedral Basilica on August 29, 2020. The Sacrament will be conferred by The Most Reverend Mitchell T. Rozanski, who will be installed as Archbishop of St. Louis on the 25th of August. Due to restrictions caused by Covid-19, attendance is limited to guests with tickets only.

Everyone is invited to watch the ordination being live-streamed at: http://cathedralstl.org/live/ or  https://www.facebook.com/cathedralstlmo/
The links will also be on our webpage. Congratulations to Dave and all those being ordained. Please keep them in your prayers.

Be assured of my prayers for you and your loved ones.  St. Francis Borgia, pray for us!

Sincerely in Christ,
 

Fr. Mike Boehm
Pastor