Dear Parishioners,
Welcome to the members of the Washington Fire Department and their spouses/friends! We are celebrating the Annual Ladies’ Night in Jesuit Hall with a dinner and dance to thank the spouses/friends who support our firefighters. As you probably know, the volunteer work that our local firefighters do to serve and protect our community can take them away from family functions at any time, day or night, which presents an added challenge on the homefront. The firefighters in Washington are so grateful for the support they receive from spouses, family, friends, and the community to be able to do their volunteer work. Please keep all the members of the WFD and their families in your prayers.
The summer is flying by! It’s hard to believe that the Washington Town & Country Fair Parade will be next Sunday. Keep an eye out for the incredibly great float from St. Francis Borgia Grade School! I’m so grateful for the volunteers who put this float together. I hope you get to enjoy the parade and some time at the Fair. Many of us will be volunteering in different capacities - from serving on the Fair Board to volunteering in booths - and we are grateful for each and every person who helps make the Fair a wonderful experience for all who attend. Let’s pray for good weather and a safe and fun experience for all who participate in the Fair.
Thank you for your attentiveness to Fr. McCaffrey last weekend as he shared with us about the missionary work of our Church and our responsibility to support it. I was very pleased with the response to Fr. McCaffrey. Once again, the generosity of our Parish Family has shown itself so obviously. Please pray for him and for all who serve as missionaries who bring the good news of Christ to people everywhere on behalf of our Church. These missionaries serve as an extension of all of us who make up the Catholic Church as they reach out to people worldwide. If you would like to make a donation to support their work, please place your donation in an envelope and indicate on the envelope that it is for the support of the missionaries which will be sent through the Pontifical Mission Office that administers this program. Some have asked for Fr. McCaffrey’s address so you can correspond with him directly:
Fr. Daniel McCaffrey
3300 NW 56th Street Suite 200
Oklahoma City, OK 73112
As I wrote about last week, beginning this weekend we are introducing some revised liturgical protocols, mostly to bring back pre-pandemic practices. We will once again have an Offertory Procession. The Ushers/Greeters will be asking people to bring forward the gifts of bread and wine on behalf of the assembly who is gathered at each Mass. Please be open to participating in this way. We will also return to coming forward for Communion via the center aisle and returning via the side aisles. As you may have noticed we have added an additional Communion distribution station in the back of Church near the center doors. The Ushers/Greeters will continue to assist people in the back to approach the Communion station there. Thank you for your cooperation with these things. And thanks for your patience! As time progresses, we will continue to reintroduce other changes, including altar servers.
We are working to fix some sidewalk issues in the Franciscan Courtyard. The walk leading from the driveway to the back of the rectory was getting worse and worse and was quickly becoming a safety hazard. (A little tidbit: the stones in that walkway go back many years and we think made up the original walkway in the yard! So we are going to save some of those to keep on display in the garden areas.) We are also taking this opportunity to extend a walkway from the end of the driveway to the entryway of Jesuit Hall. This should make it a lot easier for folks to walk to the Church from the 2nd St. gate. Thanks for your patience with this. We are really grateful to KJU Inc. for their work on this project.
Have a wonderful week! Thanks for your support of our Parish Family.
Fr. Mike Boehm