May 6, 2007 - FIFTH Sunday of Easter

Dear friends in life and in ministry  . . .

What a gorgeous weekend.  Pat and I are in Montpelier, Vermont having traveled here to attend the First Communion of 9 year old Ashley Donahue. Ashley and her mom Kelly were parishioners of mine at both St. Patrick's in Corning and for a short stint at St. Mary's in Bath.  They moved to Vermont a year and a half ago and have settled very nicely in Johnson, Vermont.

I baptized Ashley and was delighted to deacon at her First Communion yesterday.  We'll be heading home in a short while and I'll try to stay in the moment and enjoy the spectacular views along the way. God has created such a spectacular world. Our challenge (or at least mine) is to get out of my "so many things to do - so little time" mode and ENJOY THE RIDE.

This past week, we have begun work on some of the recommendations of our Parish Council following our trial renovation process that has consumed much of our time and energy over the past six months.  I'm including the bulletin insertconcerning our renovations. (See downloadable file below: Church Renovation Update - 5-6-2007.pdf)

Also, this week, both the Elmira Star Gazette and the Rochester Catholic Courier carried articles on the 25th anniversary of the diaconate.  Here are the links to these articles:
http://www.stargazette.com /apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID= /20070430/COLUMNIST26/70430032 5/1120/NEWS

http://www.catholiccourier.com /tmp1.cfm?nid=93&articleid =94266&startid=1&searchdisplay =1&cfid=16784137&cftoken =92176074

Now to Enjoy the Ride!

Deacon Ray

Click image for printable column... (Adobe PDF file, plugin needed) (Click Here For Sent To Serve Archives)

Bulletin: May 6, 2007

Church Renovation Update