On January 27th we celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Betty Ann Maulorico. She, along with her husband Ben of 61 years, had served as an Eucharistic Minister in our parish. Betty Ann was devout in her Catholic Faith which she passed on to her 3 children (she and Ben also had 6 grandchildren and a great-grandchild). Her son Ben offered some beautiful Words of Remembrance for her at the Funeral Mass. May she receive now her reward in God’s kingdom.
It takes several weeks before we know the final results of the Parish Festival in October as all the bills have to be received and paid but I can now tell you that our final profit was $26,887.81, which is quite an increase from years past so my sincere thank you to all who worked the festival in any way, especially to those on the planning team, and to all who participated. It’s not only a wonderful financial boost but even more importantly it contributes to our togetherness as a community as we welcome those in our neighborhood to experience our parish.
I’m grateful to Fr. Vesely who will be celebrating the 4pm Mass this weekend & as always to Fr. O’Grady who will be assisted by Deacon Berigan at the 8am & 11am Masses this weekend. I will be away at my sister’s home in Florida and will also have the opportunity to visit with some friends who live in Fort Myers. While I’m there I will be mindful that it has been one year (on February 11th) since my surgery and I trust that my blood work will still show me to be cancer free when I see my urologist next month. I also continue to be mindful of your prayerful support during that time & I ask the Lord to allow that experience to help me to be a better support for others in the parish who are suffering from any illness, especially from cancer. In fact this past week on February 4th, I was reminded of World Cancer Day which seeks to bring a greater awareness and education to people for the sake of preventable cancer deaths. I still have mementoes given to me at that time from parishioners which remind me of that illness...a statue and a coin of St. Peregrine, patron of cancer patients, a prayer blanket from Padua Franciscan High School, a lap afghan (which my grandmother used to make) and many cards that were sent pledging prayers. All of these serve to remind me of your gracious support and also of my need now to do the same for others. St. Peregrine was scheduled to have his leg amputat- ed because of a cancerous growth. The night before the surgery, he prayed for healing, received a vision of Christ coming down from the cross to touch his leg and was completely healed. A victim of cancer himself, St. Peregrine not only had to accept the reality of his illness, but also the instantaneous healing of that disease through the intercession of Christ. For this reason, he is invoked for medical breakthroughs as well as for those suffering from cancer and other incurable diseases. His feast day is May 4th. St. Peregrine, pray for us.