No Lazy Summer Here!

07-07-2019From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. John Barbella

Those who know me well know that winter is actually my favorite season of the year. Ever since I was a kid, the heat bothered me a lot more than the cold. Perhaps that’s why I always loved the winter.

But there have always been some things I love about the summer, too. The longer daylight, baseball, summer vacation (a bigger deal when I was a kid than now,) and the generally slower pace of things are a few things I love about summer.

That being said, this summer is not shaping up to be very slow at all. Instead, it’s looking like we will have a very busy summer here at St. Philip and St. James, which is certainly fine with me.

Timothy Eck, a seminarian from St. Jude’s Parish in Blairstown, has joined us for the summer. He is studying for the sacred priesthood in Rome and back in the states for the summer. I always enjoy having seminarians in our parish. They bring a great deal of energy and enthusiasm. Tim will be teaching an Adult Faith Enrichment Series while he’s here, the details of which will be in next week’s bulletin. I hope everyone will welcome him – and many will take advantage of the series he teaches.

Last Monday, I had the pleasure of celebrating special Mass at the Diocesan Center for the Boy and Girl Scouts who earned Catholic religious medals. Several boys from our parish troop, Kiernan Lopez, Logan Shoudt, Michael Iorio, Vincent Lamberti, and Zachary Sumner, earned the Ad Altare Dei Medal but were not at the Mass since they were at Scout Camp (I’m going to visit them after writing this article!). They will get their awards when they get home, and they deserve our congratulations!

This Monday morning, our 92-year-old pipe organ will be dismantled and shipped to the workshop. It will undergo a massive renovation so that it can serve our parish for another 90 years – God willing! This work is part of the ongoing capital campaign, which has been so generously supported by so many of you. I will keep you posted as this work and some other projects we hope to complete this summer progress.

This week is Camp Sts. Philip and James, which takes the place of our usual Vacation Bible School. Please pray that everyone has a good time and grows more deeply in their relationship with the Lord Jesus. The Sisters of Jesus, Our Hope are coordinating the program, for which I am very grateful.

As usual, please say a Hail Mary for me today – and every day! I truly appreciate your prayers – and be assured of my prayers for you during this busy summer in our wonderful parish!

Have a great week!

Fr. John

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