This Column is Sponsored by the Letter “F”

Remembering back to my childhood, I recall watching the PBS show Sesame Street. The credits for each show would say that episode was “brought to you by” a letter, which they featured throughout the show. Therefore this column should be sponsored by the letter “F” since that letter starts all the topics I want to update you about today! First we want to thank Tim Callahan and Armand Pepin for all their high quality work replacing the rotting Fascia board and window trim on St. Mary rectory and parish center - that’s a lot of windows! As previously announced, most of the materials for this project were paid for by a donation from the Fr. Coffey Council of the Knights of Columbus from their 5k charity run last year.

For both Parishes, we continue to work on implementing “God and Make Disciples,” our local Pastoral Plan for our Plainville-Wrentham Collaborative (PWC), as part of the archdiocesan plan Disciples in Mission. You may recall one of the top three priorities in our pastoral plan is Faith Formation of Adults and Families, with two specific goals for this priority: fostering adult group programs and implementing a new family retreat. As you can see by the bulletin cover, our special edition of Faith Matters: Unlocking the Mystery of the Shroud, has been rescheduled for this Wednesday, October 3, 7-9 pm, and relocated to St. Martha lower church hall (due to schedule conflicts between the presenter and the bookstore). This is a great example of how Catholics believe both faith and science can work together to reveal the truth about God’s creation and re-creation through Resurrection!

A few days ago we began the second program in the highly praised ChristLife series: Following Christ. Out of our 83 participants in the first program, about 60 registered to come back for this second series! We will run the first module, Discovering Christ, again starting in February so you too can try out these weekly evening gatherings with other lay people like themselves, sharing a meal, a video presentation, and honest discussion about important questions about life and faith.

Some parents may find it difficult to find childcare so they can attend a retreat, and some might prefer to bring their kids with them. So we want our parishioners with children to save the date for our first Family Retreat for parents and children to participate in together. Our parishes will run this retreat day on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at the LaSalette Retreat House in North Attleboro. Watch our pwc.church website and the bulletin for more information on this newly developed ministry in the coming weeks.

I also want to talk about the next steps in our other priorities - Strengthening the Sunday Experience and Vocations & Discernment - but neither begin with “F” so they will have to wait for another column!