Dear Friends of our Pastorate,
Welcome to Labor Day weekend… and to the unofficial end of summer! I cannot believe how fast this
summer has gone. We have experienced some changes over this summer as well. We said farewell to Fr. Jim and thanked him for his two years of untiring service to our pastorate. We said goodbye to Melissa Boyle who moved onto a teaching position at Archbishop Spalding. And now we must say farewell to Diana Healy, who is stepping down in order to dedicate more time to family needs.
But we also have welcomed some new additions to our pastorate. First, we welcomed Fr. John Bilenki as our new associate pastor. Fr. John has hit the ground running as he has been getting settled here as well as preparing for our pastorate’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults program (formerly RCIA), which starts up in a couple of weeks. As we know, Fr. John is also the part time chaplain at Mount St. Joseph High School, which will mean he will be at the school one day a week. We also welcomed Carrie Hilmer as our new Associate Youth Minister, being responsible for our Middle School and High School Youth Ministry programs. Carrie will be working closely with Tim Janiszewski, our Pastoral Associate/Youth Minister from OLC, as we coordinate and share our High School Youth Ministry and Confirmation programs. We also recently hired Marie Griffiths as St. Jane’s Religious Education Coordinator. Marie is well known at St Jane’s as one of our cantors and an active volunteer. She will be overseeing our Pre-K through 5th grade religious education classes as well as the First Reconciliation and First Communion sacramental prep programs and VBS. Her position at St. Jane’s overlaps with Michaela Stanton’s position at OLC—and thankfully Marie and Michaela know each other because their children attend Lake Shore Elementary, so it is my hope that they can be a support for each other during the year. I feel confident that our faith formation programs are moving in a positive direction and are being set up to flourish in the coming years!
Now is the time to sign your kids up for faith formation at both parishes. All of our youth are invited to participate in our programs, even if they attend Catholic Schools. We especially invite all high school kids who have been confirmed to join our programs as peer ministers. Also, anyone who is preparing for a sacrament (First Reconciliation, First Communion, or Confirmation) should be signed up at the parish, even if they attend a Catholic school. This year, our High School Youth Ministry and Confirmation preparation programs are being merged and sessions shared between St. Jane Frances and OLC, and will occur on Sunday evenings. There have been some changes for sure this summer, but I feel certain that the Lord is blessing our pastorate with opportunities for growth and renewal!
Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
