Welcome to the month of October beginning tomorrow. In the Catholic Church, the month of October is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Month of the Rosary, commonly known as “October Devotion.” Due to the limited facilities at this time, we will not have any parish community event for the October Devotion this year. However, I encourage everyone to make an effort to pray the Rosary every day throughout the month of October. As you pray, please remember to include in your prayer intention a prayer for the success of our Church building project. I also invite you to come join us for the Rosary daily before weekday Mass. The Rosary is led by our Parish Prayer Group at 7:30am (Mon-Thur) in the St. Benedict Annex 2 Chapel. You may also consider participating in the Annual Arizona Rosary Celebration on Sunday, October 16th from 2:00pm to 4:15pm at the Phoenix Convention Center  led by Bishop John Dolan and Bishop Eduardo Nevares. Find out more…

 

October 4th is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a day when many people traditionally have their pets blessed. We will have the general blessing of pets for all parishioners on Saturday, October 8 at 10am at the front west gate of the school. Please hold and stay with your pets, and be sure your cats and dogs are on a leash (or be ready to separate fights!). St. John Bosco School community will hold their symbolic blessing of pets on Tuesday, October 4th at 2:15pm in the St. Francis Garden. 

This weekend is our Commitment Weekend for our Cheerful Giving from the Heart program. You should have received a brochure in the mail during the week, introducing it. There will be brochures and commitment cards on the pews this weekend as well.  I invite each of you to participate in this important commitment as we respond to God’s great gift of love. I ask that you please review the brochure and prayerfully consider how you and your family can help St. Benedict Catholic Church by financially supporting our ministries, furthering our mission, and reinforcing our future.  

 

We ask that all faithful parishioners complete a Commitment Card. A card is included in the brochure for you to: 

·    mail to the church using the pre-addressed envelope included in this mailing;  

·    or bring your card to Mass this weekend;  

·    or you may visit our parish website at www.stbenedict.org and complete an electronic Commitment Card. 

 

The back of the Commitment Card has a place for you to include any prayer intentions you wish to share. We welcome all intentions and they will be prayed for collectively over the next few weeks. If you would like to speak to Fr. Manasseh or me, please indicate so on your card and we will be in contact with you. Our goal is 100% participation! Thank you for your generosity and support of St. Benedict Catholic Church!  

 

We will end the month of September with great activity at the construction site. With  the leadership of our General Contractor, Double AA, we end the month on schedule. Our target completion is Q3 2023. As we get closer we will refine this date.

Imagine celebrating our future Masses in this building. The pictures you can take of your family's celebration of Baptism, Confirmation and wedding. The children of St John Bosco attend Mass and receive their Sacraments in this beautiful building. It is becoming a reality for many of us

We know many families suspended fulfilling their pledges until they saw progress. We totally understood why. Hopefully now, there is enough progress for you to continue with fulfilling your pledges. It is okay to give more.

We ask the new parishioners to reach out to Father to discuss what you can contribute to assist in St Benedict meeting the financial goal for the building project.

Back to our update:

The masons are moving along in many locations, including building the climbing tower to construct the bell tower.

Footings for the inside pylons have been installed.

The slabs for the adoration Chapel, the north and south entrance have been poured

The updated underground sewer connections for the existing restrooms have been completed. Waiting for the City inspection

The steel package for the choir loft is scheduled to arrive mid next week.

         Climbing tower for the bell tower

         Northside new entry

         South transept entry