Holy Angels Needs You!
Soon we will be grouped with our new Family of Parishes: St. Michael, Ss. Peter & Paul, & Sacred Heart. This means that the priests in this Family will be traveling between the various campuses and churches. Priests may live at different parishes and will have to commute in the morning to get to Mass.
With this in view, I would like to ask for your help to make a priest’s schedule more succinct and precise. Starting in Lent I would like to train sacristans to help set- up and clean up after Mass. This will help the priests in their duty to celebrate the Mass with prayerful recollection and for them to have more time for other sacramental duties. If you are thinking about taking on this task, please remember that you will have to arrive before and stay after Mass to fulfill this opportunity to volunteer. So, if you would like to consider becoming a sacristan, please email info@holyangelssidney.com with “Sacristan” as the subject line to make it easier for us to filter those emails.
I would also like to make a clarification from last week. When I spoke about freezing contributions to the Endowment funds at Holy Angels, I was speaking about parishioners making contributions to the endowment fund. I am doing this with the affirmation of the finance committee because when our Family of Parishes becomes one canonical parish, we will have one set of books for the finances. How this ends up working out is not for sure since it involves years of process. However, since I know this restructuring will take place, I do not want you all to feel as though you were not informed that such a revamping of parish finances was going to take place and that you gave money to the endowment without this knowledge. This just ensures that no one feels duped in this process.
Speaking of Beacons, please note that sometime in February the priests’ assignments will be announced. We have not received information on what exact date, but we were informed that February should be the month.
From the announcement of the priests, we will then enter the next phase of pastoral planning for Beacons of Light with our Family of Parishes. First, parishes that have priests that will be moving to a new assignment will have to grieve. So please realize that this could be hard for us at Holy Angels, and it will be difficult for other parishes in the Archdiocese as well.
Once again, remember we exist as a parish and as a Church for the salvation of souls and to make Saints. As Charles Peguy put it, “Life holds only one tragedy, ultimately: not to have been a saint.” To become a saint is the greatest adventure we can embark on in life. You can do it. Start in little ways, doing a morning offering each morning when you wake up, go to daily Mass one day more a week, seek to be reconciled to someone you have been at odds with, and/or seek to develop meaningful friendships with those who want to be saints.
Thank you to the Holy Angels School Staff, our catechists, and all those who seek to educate our children. It is not an easy task to pass on the Faith of the Church, but I am grateful for the efforts of many.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Jarred Kohn