Are You With Us?

Dear Editor:

The St. Camillus-St. Virgilius Parish mission is officially on its way. The Saturday 4 p.m. Mass at St. Virgilius was well attended for the blessing of the Parish Center by Bishop Brennan. We were reminded that the Parish Center was a project that Fr. Ahlemeyer was passionate about and will be used in his honor. On Sunday, Fr. Kuroly celebrated the 11:30 a.m. Mass at St. Camillus. Loved his message on Sunday. Like the Apostles as they prayed in the Upper Room after the Ascension, we need to patiently wait and pray, preparing ourselves to hear the Lord. Sometimes, our prayers are answered immediately, while sometimes, there seems to be silence, which is not a no, but a not now. We can’t give up; we need to continue to pray.

After Mass, Fr. Kuroly hosted a “town hall” meeting where we got to know him a little better as he shared his vision for how we will move forward together as a new family to grow the St. Camillus-St. Virgilius Parish. Obviously, he cannot do it himself. He emphasized he needs all of us. For this mission to be successful, we need each other. We need to be the people that convinced the Bishop we need St. Camillus. You know the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” We need to show up now and prove we are serious about the second chance we were given!

I know there are those who are thinking our mission is impossible because of the financial challenge. We cannot be distracted by those thoughts right now. Our first goal the next few months is to work on the Parish’s spiritual growth. We had the opportunity at the meeting to write down suggestions that will be reviewed by Fr. Kuroly to help with this first goal. So, as we start out on this new mission with Fr. Kuroly, each one of us needs to make the commitment to do whatever it takes in making the St. Camillus-St. Virgilius Parish thrive and flourish, while of course, having some fun!

Faith in Action,
Barbara Buffolino