Next weekend we have a lot of big events at our churches — you can party with your church friends all weekend long!  J Saturday (and Sunday morning, too), we have the annual IHM Rummage Sale, with treasures waiting to be found! Saturday evening brings music by our Seasonal Choir at 4 p.m. Mass at SSP and a BBQ afterwards provided by our Holy Name Society. On Sunday afternoon the legendary SJB Quilt Bingo distributes a year’s worth of beautiful handmade quilts from the SJB quilters. Thank you to those giving their time and talent to make these events happen!

I’ve received a lot of questions and comments about music ministry, so I decided to write a report on what has been going on with music at our three churches and what might come in the future. The report’s included as a special insert in this week’s bulletin, and will be sent out through our Friday Flocknote. (Read it here.) We also will have a “Conversation with Fr. Aaron on Music” open to all parishioners on Sept. 24, 2023 in the SSP Parish Hall from noon to 2 p.m.

How about an “Ask the Pastor Night”? 

What a great idea! Let’s do it on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, at 7 p.m. in the Fr. Keaney Center on the IHM campus.

Why do you have the presider’s chair at SSP moved so that your back is to the folks in the east transept?

We did this for two reasons. First, it makes the layout of the sanctuary at SSP similar to SJB and IHM, which is useful for our servers’ being able to use similar procedures at all the Masses. Second, Msgr. and I both felt a little strange having our chair out alone in the middle of the sanctuary, like we were calling attention to ourselves or the Mass was about us — which it isn’t! Jesus is the main attraction!

Who determined the Transition Team? Based on what? Why is there a husband and wife on the team?

I invited people to be on the Transition Team. Before August 1, I asked Mary Regan, Deacon Dana Engelhardt, and Debbie Gartner to give me a list of people in SSP, SJB, and IHM who loved the parish, had wisdom, were connected to other parishioners, and would be willing to give honest, even critical feedback. Together they suggested 21 people from the three parishes. I wanted the transition team to have about 3 people from each parish, and I wanted it to be a mix of ages and of women and men. With that in mind, I started calling people from the three parishes. I decided to invite David Borgmeyer and Jen Popiel because I thought it would be interesting to see what similar and contrasting perspectives would come from a wife and husband. They’ve been a big help, and I’m glad they accepted. I realize that our Transition Team in some ways lacks diversity. Currently, everyone on the team is a native English speaker, everyone is Caucasian, and we don’t have any teens or young adults on the Team.  If you think you have gifts that would help our Team and would add to its diversity, I’d love to talk with you about the possibility of your joining.

A few weeks ago in the bulletin you said “like it or lump it.” I thought this was a snarky remark. We are all hurting and this deepens the pain. You could have stopped at "We are all one church!"

My intent was not to be snarky; I was trying to say in a short, funny way that sometimes being one church feels pretty great, and sometimes being one church feels pretty tough, but whether it feels great or whether it feels tough, we are one church, and underneath it all, that gives us something from God that is real and true. I am sorry that I did not use more care in choosing in my words. This was wrong because I’ve misspoken before when I tried to inject humor into my bulletin column, and I realize that many people in our community are hurting, just like you said. In the future, when I use humor in my columns, I will stop to think about how it sounds from a variety of different perspectives. Will you please forgive me?

Tomorrow’s the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. Let’s pray for our nation, for those who lost loved ones, for our first responders, and for wisdom to use well here on earth in the time that God has given us. God bless you!