Holy Spirit Parish

Dear Holy Spirit Parish:                                        2/5/2023


        “Just so your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
                                                                                                                        (Matt 5:16)


Today we end a week of celebrating the gift Catholic Schools are to our community.  Of the 255 students, first through twelfth grade, we have registered in the parish, 31% (87 students) attend Pacelli Catholic Schools, 52% (133 students) are in our Faith Formation Program and 17% (41 students) are not participating in either Catholic Schools or the Parish Faith Formation program.  Given we have no programing for our youth after Confirmation it is understandable that 29 Juniors and Seniors show up as not participating in anything. If we take out the 41, we have 12 unaccounted for students out of 255, or 5%.  Given our Sunday Mass attendance is still well under pre-pandemic numbers, we could conclude our families with children are leading the parish in re-engaging after Covid!

As we witnessed at the 10:30am Mass today Catholic Schools prepare students to “let their light shine and bring glory to our heavenly Father.”  As soon as they are able to read, sing or play an instrument children take active parts in their school liturgies. Through excellent classes and extra-curriculars as well, they learn they are the church and so need to lead in this world.  As simple as this seems to us, the world is taking note.  Perhaps you are aware that a public school system in Foshan China back in 2018 contacted the Administrator of Pacelli Schools (Gregg Hansel) seeking to learn how to run a similar school there.  According to a June 8, 2018 Stevens Point Gazette article:

Founded by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Gouxin Holding Group in Foshan, the school will be staffed by English speaking teachers and is slated to begin educating students in grades 10-12 this fall. The goals for this venture are multi-faceted with a primary emphasis on helping Chinese students become better prepared to enter a university in the United States. The curriculum, which will mimic Pacelli’s curriculum, will provide the rigor, learning style, and English instruction needed for these students to transition into American universities, with an emphasis on UW System schools including UWSP.
I fully support our Catholic School system and encourage all parish families to consider it for their children.

Earlier I mentioned that our weekend Mass attendance is still well below pre-covid numbers.  This chart shows average Mass attendance for each of the four weekend Masses for the month of December for the last five years.  So, two years before Covid and three during.  We have been averaging about 200 “views” of our live stream of the 8:00am Mass each week, but we don’t know if a “view” is someone watching the whole Mass or just for a few seconds.  But here are the in-person attendance numbers.
     
  Year            Month            5:00pm       8:00am         10:30am.  6:00pm     Total      Change      Online

We are heading in the right direction.  I will be holding this information and all of you in prayer as I travel to St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado from Feb. 7 through Feb. 17 for a ten-day silent retreat.  I pray to return ready to let my light shine for the glory of God.



              Fr. Steve

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