By Fr. Paul Shovelain
The first half of 2021 is complete! I am happy to say the NEW BRIGHT light of Christ is shining bright in NEW BRIGHTon and beyond! We wish Fr. Magner well as he brings the bright light out to Maple Lake and Annadale where he will serve as Parochial Vicar alongside Fr. John Meyer who is pastor of the two parishes out there. Thank you to everyone for your support in this time of transition. I am excited to welcome Fr. Jerry Dvorak who is a bright light of Christ as our new Parochial Vicar. He begins at SJB on July 15 and you can read more about him in this week’s bulletin or last Saturday’s email.
We are working to more effectively let the BRIGHT LIGHT shine here at SJB as we reorganize our space. We are cleaning out storage rooms and moving the Maternity Closet upstairs to allow for our preschool ministry to expand. We are grateful to see 3 school families receive the Sacraments and more fully engage in living out the Catholic faith. We are hoping to see more as we grow our preschool as well as strengthen our Catholic Formation programming by beginning the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I am working closely with the school and Office of Discipleship and Mission to get the program going here. Please pray for this exciting initiative as well.
Unfortunately, we have 3 more funerals at SJB this week. Tomorrow we will celebrate the funeral for +Mark Waite who modeled in a very powerful way our core value of Generous Spirit. Mark was dedicated to helping his wife Stephanie with the many events that she led on from Turkey Dinners to Golf Tournaments. He was a phenomenal cook and made food for Family Formation, funeral luncheons, FallFest and other events at SJB. Please join me in praying for the response of his soul and for all those who have died from our parish.
As we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, we pray for our nation and that we would use our freedoms to let the BRIGHT LIGHT of Christ bring love, comfort, healing, direction, hope, and guidance to those in New Brighton and beyond!