Did you know…
It is easy to think that as a parish, we are a little island, floating on our own. And then, continuing with that line of thinking, to be angry or frustrated at the Archdiocese for leaving us here on our own. But did you know that we are decidedly not alone. In many ways, we draw daily and weekly support from “Lindell” (now moved to “Laclede Station Road”). Help is always a phone call away.
The Archdiocesan School office supports us with researched answers to specific problems and issues brought to Mrs. Reichenbach’s or my attention. Their expertise and assistance has been invaluable to the two ‘first time’ principals we have hired during my tenure here.
When I need a dispensation for a wedding or help for someone going through the process of an annulment, I know where to go and who to talk to. As the new changes in the translations of the mass are coming down the pipeline, I know that the Liturgy Office will be offering several training sessions (I’ve already been to the first one) to prepare our hearts to pray with the church as it prays.
When a legal issue raises its head, (and unfortunately, they do more often than I would like) the ‘Archdiocesan Lawyers’ are there to research the answers I need so I can deal with the situation correctly, yet compassionately.
When couples are preparing for marriage, I know there is a schedule of retreats already planned and evening “Pre-Cana” sessions scattered throughout the Archdiocese for them to plug into. I refer them to the Archdiocesan web-page, and off they go…
And on a more ‘local’ level, several parishes have ‘twinned’ with our St. Vincent De Paul society, making a monthly commitment to help us help those in need in our community and parish. Immaculata on Clayton was the first. Joining them over the course of the years have been St. Alban Roe, Incarnate Word and Ascension parishes, all in Chesterfield. Together they give nearly $500 a month in aid to our St. Vincent DePaul Society for those in our neighborhood.
Did you know? I hope so. But just in case you didn’t, breathe a prayer of thanks to God for the ‘connections between us’ as members of this wonderful Archdiocese of St. Louis…