Dear Friends in Christ,
On Pentecost Sunday we celebrate the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The presence of the Holy Spirit gave them courage and strength to: Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15) How does the presence of the Holy Spirit inspire us as disciples? God has blessed each of us with many talents and gifts and we are invited to share them through service in the Church. A few weeks ago, I spoke at all of the Masses about the Stewardship of Talent and offered everyone an invitation to discover their gifts. Thank you to all who have returned your interest cards. We are in the process of recording the information in our database. If you have not yet filled out a card, please do so as soon as possible and return it during Mass or to the Parish Office. It is not too late!
On Saturday, May 25, Bishop Noonan will ordain four men to the Priesthood for our Diocese of Orlando. Thank you for praying for these servants of the Church and for all who are discerning a vocation to Priesthood and Religious Life. Soon we will have an official announcement of who is being assigned to our parish as Parochial Vicar. I know that we will all join together to provide a home for one of these newly ordained Priests. As an update… we continue to have an overwhelming response to the sign-up for the Vocation Blessing Cup. Over 170 families have agreed to host the cup in their home for one week. In order to accommodate this interest we will have four cups circulating around the homes of our parish during the summer time and three cups the rest of the year. During the academic year, each week one of the Vocation Blessing Cups is placed in a classroom at our parish school, Annunciation Catholic Academy, so that the students enrolled there as well as the students of our Faith Formation for Children and Youth programs can pray for religious vocations.
Around this time of year many Priests celebrate the anniversary of their Ordination, so I thought I would provide these dates for the Priests that serve our parish community:
- Fr. Stephen Parkes May 23, 1998
- New Parochial Vicar May 25, 2013
- Fr. Bill Gohring May 26, 1984
- Fr. Steve Baumann June 6, 1992
- Monsignor Caverly June 10, 1961
Thank you always for your prayers and support! Know that we will remember you, your loved ones, and your intentions in our prayers. May we meet each day in our prayers!
In Christ,
Very Rev. Stephen D. Parkes, V.F.
Pastor