We welcome to St. Charles this weekend Fr. Steve Blum, a priest who will share with us the mission of Food for the Poor. There are pledge cards in the pews for those who would like to help this worthy cause.
We are also excited to welcome to St. Charles this week Fr. Jery, our new Benedictine priest from India. Fr. James recalls that many years ago Fr. Jery was one of his students at the monastery school. There will be a little confusion on names. We will call him “Fr. Jery,” pronounced just like “Jerry” but with only one r. His last name, though, is beyond difficult: Madathiparambil. However, there is a simplification here. In much of India, people don’t have middle names, but add their father’s first name after the last name. Fr. Jery’s father is named Paul. That is a name we can both spell and pronounce. In order to make things easy on us, he will often use Fr. Jery M. Paul.
Sadly, this is the final weekend for Fr. James here at St. Charles. He will be returning to his monastery in India, leaving on Tuesday morning. Fr. James has served in this parish for 18 years. He has offered roughly 10,000 Masses in our parish, anointing our sick, baptizing our babies, visiting our nursing homes, and hearing hundreds of thousands of confessions. In my years here I have never known Fr. James to take a sick day, miss a liturgy, or show up late for a parish commitment. He has served us with a quiet humility and a deep prayerful stance. We are grateful for these 18 years and we will miss him. Fr. James’ new address will be: St. Joseph’s Monastery, Makkiyad P.O., Kerala, India. PIN 670731. We will have a reception for Fr. James after the 11:00 Mass this weekend.
Finally, a word of congratulation: Sr. Theresa Renniger, who was our principal from 1974-1985, is celebrating this year her 75th jubilee with the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart. “What made it all worthwhile was simply sharing joy and a smile with those who crossed my path. To any woman considering a religious vocation I would say, ‘Come, you’ll love it just like I do!’” If you would like to send a card, her address is: Ascension Sacred Heart Home Convent, 515 N. Main St., Avilla, IN 46710.
