June 19, 2016

Dear Parish Family,

Summer is a good opportunity to find time for fun activities as well as for planning. All the ministries and parish committees are setting goals and planning activities for the coming up school year. As your pastor, you have all my support and prayers for your initiatives on making our church an even stronger community. There is a lot of planning and service being offered by the members of our staff every day. The Finance and Pastoral councils are actively participating in promoting St. Patrick’s and addressing the needs of the community.

St. Patrick’s Parish Outreach is constantly praying for and seeking ways to bring hope to those in need. The Health Care Committee continues to offer their annual events, at the same time seeking more ways to help us to be more conscious about our mental and physical health. The Cursillistas, a diocesan ministry, continue to offer their conversion retreats for men and women of our parish. The Encuentro Matrimonial is also a diocesan ministry with presence in our parish, and they accompany and pray with couples on the journey to living the vocation of married life. The Schoenstatt movement is also present in our community, and they come together to pray for and show support to one another, as they too have been called to the vocation of marriage and family life. The Pro-Life Ministry embraces the mission to bring out the gospel of life to the families of St. Patrick as well as to the community of Rochelle.

The department of Youth Ministry is finding ways to bring both the Spanish and English speaking youth of our parish together and offering them an environment of discipleship as they learn about their relationship with God. The Adult Faith Formation Committee is always finding ways to teach the adult members of our community and bring them closer to God. There is also a Communications Committee finding ways to create tools and channels of communication for our parish. I am currently praying for a men’s ministry and an Evangelization Committee.

Thank you for your willingness to go the extra mile for the sake of St. Patrick. May God reward you with many blessing for your sacrifices and commitment for St. Patrick.

​Fr. Lopez

---