May 7th

Dear Friends,
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Congratulations to all of the young people of our parish who made their First Communion this weekend! May is a special month for many reasons, not the least of which is the joy of so many receiving Christ sacramentally in the Eucharist for the first time. We will highlight both our First Communicants and our recent Confirmandi in a series of May Crownings at Mass over the coming week and weekend. This coming week we will have initial orientation meetings for the next batch of young people who will now begin their formal preparation for Eucharist and 
Confirmation.
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I am happy to announce to you that Kelly Bourrell will be coming on board as Director of Parish Schools and Principal of Bridgeport Catholic Academy on July 1! She comes highly recommended, and our search committee met with her twice, once on each campus- and was extremely impressed. In addition to being at the committee interviews, I also met with her one-on-one, and feel very confident that she will do a wonderful job as the Principal of BCA and the “point person” for our parish’s educational ministry. She has a solid background, a dedication to the Catholic mission of our schools, and she talked with passion and conviction about educational strategies and curriculum development. She currently serves as Principal at Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School in Orland Hills. 

I have been praying to the Holy Spirit, asking that the right person be directed to our parish; and I believe that the Holy Spirit has come through for us. We will continue to develop our model of collaboration that allows the unique elements of each school to shine, while also exploring ways for working together that enhance both school communities and strengthen their parish connection. 

Finally, during the month of Mary and the month of Mother’s Day, we are taking part in the Baby Bottle Project, which raises money to help the Women’s Center give aid to women facing crisis pregnancies. You can take a bottle home with you and over the course of the month put in some money. We’ll return them at the end of May and the Women’s Center will pick them up.

May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
we experienced at Mass today!