Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
While most council and committee groups take a hiatus during July at Saint Patrick and St. Malachi parishes, life on both campuses is active! I am pleased to report that the Saint Vincent de Paul hot meals continue to be served on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as does the Food Pantry on the first and third Wednesdays. St. Malachi’s Monday Night Meal and Saturday Morning Breakfast programs, in addition to the Back Door Ministry operat-ing Monday through Friday, continue to provide for our neighbors. When adding them all up, approximately 1300 meals are served every week. That’s nearly 68, 000 meals each year between both parishes. We thank the many parishes and organizations who contribute to our efforts! Both campuses are seeing physical transfor-mation as St. Pat continues the extensive tuck-pointing project on the church’s west side and the new office space in the former St. Malachi school building is nearing com-pletion as we prepare to vacate the rectory when the sale to Stella Maris closes. Staff members and other parish leaders have been using this month to plan calendars and review events for the 2024-2025 season. This in-cludes preparation for OCIA (formally known as RCIA) and our Children’s Faith Formation program, as well as mapping out our liturgical celebrations for the upcoming year. Young Adult Ministry and other adult faith for-mation opportunities are being planned, as well. We also welcomed our new Administrative Manager, Bob Knopf, who is serving both parishes and St. Malachi’s new Campus Operations Coordinator, Frank Budziak. They will be working with Scott Menningen until his re-tirement in October. Parish leaders also continue to re-flect on the many recommendations made by our Collab-oration Initiative’s Working Groups who collectively in-vested over 1200 hours of their time since March. These conversations are assisting the Collaboration Steering Committee in shaping final decisions next month. Most importantly, an average of 350 parishioners and guests gather for the celebration of Mass each weekend, receiv-ing our Eucharistic Lord who is truly the source of all grace and joy. And we look forward to hearing about the experiences of our parishioners who recently returned from the National Eucharistic Congress! As we turn to August, please be sure to continue reviewing our parish bulletins for important updates and information. And please be sure to mark your calendar for Sunday, August 25, for St. Pat’s annual picnic with 11am Mass followed by delicious food and fun. Great time to mingle! pray that all of you are enjoying these beautiful summer days with loved ones and friends. Gratefully yours in Christ, Fr. Gurnick
