From the Pastor's Pen -

Last week we hosted the priests and deacons of what is now called the North County Deanery. Our group of parishes now includes St. Ann-Normandy, Holy Trinity in St. Ann, and Holy Spirit. The host parish typically gives a snapshot of the parish’s life, and the priests found it very informative. As I go on my personal retreat this week, I thought I’d share with you this picture I gave them. --Our budget worked well this past year, with a good surplus after all the parish and school needs were met. This was the first balanced budget in the parish’s history. --We just concluded a very successful Stewardship season, with a special Awareness homily, a Festival of Ministries, and wonderful lay speakers from our Youth Group leadership. We had a fun scavenger hunt on the church lawn for the children. --Our school is up to about 270 students this year, 30 more than last year. This counts Pre-K through 8th Grade. --We have two youth groups, one from 5th Grade on, one for 8th Grade through high school. --We have a Senior Club of over 100 members that meets the third Monday at 12:30 --We’ve become a leader in the Archbishop’s beONE initiative. We hold joint speaking and discussion sessions with St. Elizabeth Mother of John the Baptist parish in St. Louis, and we’re also working on the Lutheran- Catholic dialogue observing Luther’s 500th Anniversary --We have a hard-working St. Vincent DePaul Society, Welcoming Committee and Evangelization Committee, and many more—Athletics, Men’s Club, Liturgy and typical parish groups --We have ACTS retreats for men and women, one is next week; and people are in our Adoration Chapel each weekday till 11.

Our Parish Council works to keep all this coordinated. After I gave this report, one priest remarked, “I didn’t know there was so much going on here.” Even though I feel a good tiredness every night, I sometimes didn’t realize it all at once. Did you??