We Are Growing!
We have just completed another school year at Notre Dame of De Pere and are planning for the start of the new year in August. I want to inform our parish communities of an adjustment that we need to make in the time of our daily Mass at St. Francis Xavier on Wednesday and Thursday mornings beginning the week of Monday, August 29, 2022.
We are blessed to experience growth in student enrollment at our parishes’ school, NDDP. Heading into the new year, the church seating capacity at SFX will limit our ability to accommodate the entire student body for a Wednesday morning 8:30am Mass and will also limit the number of additional parents and/or parishioners.
Following consultation with our school principal, parish staff, and parish leadership, our plan moving forward is to have Kindergarten – 5th Grade students attend Mass Wednesday morning at 8:30am and Grades 6 – 8 attend Mass Thursday morning at 8:30am.
This will eliminate the need for two daily Masses at SFX on Wednesday mornings as it allows an integrated celebration of the Mass. School parents and parishioners will be able to celebrate and pray with the school community, which better reflects parish life. In addition, we can more effectively reflect on the Word of the Lord given the age, formation, and development between primary and middle school students.
What will this look like beginning Monday, August 29th?
This will be a year-round change – including June, July, and August. The daily Mass at St. Mary will remain at 8:30a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
As pastor, it is with great care that I consider the needs of our two parishes and school communities. We live in challenging times due to the shortage of priests. Because the responsibility of our Associate Pastor also includes one quarter-time ministry at UWGB, I need to be mindful of that impact as it pertains to how we approach sacramental ministry within our parishes and school communities. Together, let us continue to pray that vocations to the priesthood and religious life may flourish within our diocese and parishes.
Sincerely,
Fr. Mike