This week, St. Simon School welcomed back all our students to in-person learning. It was so exciting to see so many kids on campus again. I was delighted to see them playing in the schoolyard and learning in the classrooms again. We are off to a great start. Of course, we need to remain vigilant and abide by all the CDC, State, County and Diocesan rules regarding COVID. Everyone is required to wear facemasks while inside and we will test all the students regularly to keep them safe. While everyone who is eligible for vaccines is expected to be vaccinated, we will all still wear facemasks until the CDC believes it is safe to do otherwise. It is just wonderful to see the students back learning. Last year was a tough year for everyone but hardest for the young and old. Please keep us all in your prayers as we continue our year ahead.
Speaking of education, all our youth formation programs are beginning this coming week. This Sunday, 1-4pm I will be giving a retreat to all faith formation leaders to help prepare them for the year ahead. All catechists and faith formation leaders from any parish are welcome to attend. Please email Beth Moeur <bmoeur@stsimon.org> if you plan to attend.
On Sunday, August 29, we will formally launch both of our Youth Ministry Programs, Source (Middle School) and Summit (High School). Our opening nights are social gatherings with plenty of fun and games to launch the new year. We will have the schedule for the year ahead available that night and we encourage you to invite your teens to come and join us. While we do not have a Youth Minister on staff yet, we have two great teams of people leading these ministries. They have worked hard in the planning sessions during the summer and are excited to have your children join our new programs. We are always asking for more help and need volunteers for both the core teams and the sessions.
Middle School Youth Ministry will meet before the 5:00 p.m. Mass. Please email Beth Moeur, bmoeur@stsimon.org, if you plan to attend as we need to prepare and plan for the number of attendees. High School Youth Ministry will meet after the 5:00 p.m. Mass. Please email Karen Moreira, summitcore@stsimon.org because we are ordering dinner!
I invite everyone to please join us for our Fall BBQ sponsored by the Parish Life Group. The Fall BBQ team has worked extremely hard to get this event planned and executed. It would awesome to see you there and please allow some time to meet new families who have joined the parish and school over the last year…there are lots of new families joining our vibrant community. Another quick reminder: please participate in the Cash Calendar Raffle so we can help many of our community when they come to us in times of need throughout the year. It would be very much appreciated if you could sell/buy $300 of tickets to support our efforts.
Finally, I share with you a unique opportunity I have of traveling to Lourdes with the Order of Malta on their annual pilgrimage August 31—September 8. It is even more special for me to be able to join my brother Paul and his wife, Maria, as we pray for healing. There are others in our community who are also on this journey. All of us are willing to carry prayers on your behalf to Our Lady of Lourdes and I will preside at a private Mass with our group for all your special intentions. If you would like your prayer brought, please fill out this form and we will pray for you or your intention. If you would like to keep it private then please put a sealed envelope in the rectory marked as “Private Prayer Lourdes Intention” and we will bring it unopened to Lourdes for you.
If you are not able to join us for in-person, outdoor Mass at 5pm Saturday night or any of the indoor Masses on Sunday, then please join us for livestream Mass at 9am Sunday morning. I understand these are uncertain times but it is important to attend Mass. I encourage you to gather your family around the television, join us live and sing along with the music, fully participating with us. This is a great habit and helps keep you and kids rooted in the community of faith. See you online if not in person.
God bless,
Fr. Brendan