Our school children are finishing up their current school year, and are gearing up for their summer vacation. The graduation ceremonies for 8th grade, Kindergarten and pre-K were very well-done, thanks to our Principal, Mrs. Vikki Delgado, Sisters Maria and Dorothy and our teachers. I thank all of the staff, too, for a wonderful year in which our school, and individual students within it, achieved several honors. I think that if you could have been there, you would have especially enjoyed the younger Pre-K and Kindergarten observances. The kids were precious, and sang their hearts out and performed so well from all that they had learned in their respective classes. They were moments we will cherish! Some of our faculty will also graduate from St. Vincent Ferrer School and move on.

We thank God for giving them to us as His gifts over the past several years. They are: Sister Dorothy, Mrs. Garcia-Gilbert, Mrs. Godden, Mrs. Mannweiler, Mrs. Rabenstine, and Coach Grummer. May they enjoy the many possibilities that God can offer them if they keep their hearts and minds united with His! We’ll miss them, and will pray for them. Sister Dorothy will return to Poland to be near her family. She will be replaced by two sisters! We will miss her spirit and energy, but know that she’ll be happy near home.

A number of our 8th grade graduates were awarded scholarships: Ms. Kathryn Ricciardelli Memorial Scholarship for 1 year @$ 1250 to Anthony Beck; St. Katherine Drexel Scholarship for 1 year @$1000 to Sara Wolfarth; Pope John Paul II Presidential Scholarship for 4 years @$2000 to Kevin Brammer; The Snow Scholarship @$1,000 for 4 years each to Travis Hughes and Heather Hey; The Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Distinguished Scholars Program @$9000 for 4 years to Travis Hughes and Emma McNamara; The Andrew Skiko Student Athlete Award to Julia Duca. Most of these students will attend Pope John Paul II H.S. in Boca Raton, except Heather Hey, who will attend Cardinal Newman H.S. some additional grants have come from Community Blood Bank Scholarships for 1 year @ $617.00 to the following: Alena Costanian, Peyton Edwards, Kelsey Grant, Heather Hey, Emma McNamara and Alexandria Shumway.

This Monday, we celebrate the first of our summertime’s three national holidays --Memorial Day. As a child, I remember the emphasis placed on the commemoration of the deceased men and women who served our country well, especially the ones who gave their lives in the process. Then, we also knew it as Decoration Day, an occasion when we observed the holiday with a procession or parade to the local cemetery, decorated the graves of the veterans, and sometimes marked the occasion with speeches in honor of those beloved men and women. Now it seems to be just another picnic type of holiday that has forgotten the real meaning behind the celebration, and has little to do with those deceased veterans.

In our parish, we will have Mass at 7 and 8:30 A.M., but NO AFTERNOON MASS that day. Our Bishop will offer the annual Memorial Day Mass at Queen of Peace Cemetery on Southern Boulevard in Royal Palm Beach, this Monday, at 10:00 AM. You are most welcome to join in that observance, and if you do, bring along a lawn chair, as seating is limited. In a “typo” (that none of my staff caught last week), I mentioned that our farewell reception for long-time weekend assistant, Msgr. Stephen Bosso, would be held on Sunday, June 11th. Sunday is the 12th! So, it will be held on Sunday, after the last morning Mass. I am so grateful that he will be able to offer the Mass beforehand, and celebrate with us, before he has to catch a flight later that day.

Next Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lord’s Ascension into heaven. Up north, some of the dioceses maintain the traditional Thursday observance (which would be this Thursday for them), but in 80% of the country, we celebrate it on the following Sunday, a day of the week on which more people would likely come to church. The option to move that celebration lies in the competency of the bishop, and our Florida bishops have agreed to coordinate that solemn feast day’s celebration. So, there is no obligation to attend Mass this coming Thursday (and much of the country except the Northeast). This weekend’s 2nd Collection is turning out to be a very important one for the U.S. because of the spate of recent floods and tornados over the past few weeks. So many victims were left without homes, cars, family, and livelihood. Your generous response to the 2nd Collection will allow Catholic Charities USA to get into those areas in most need of our help. Your gift may help someone make a real turn-around in his/her life. Thank you in advance for your generous response to this need in America!

Vacation Bible School is “just around the corner.” Our leadership team, under the direction of Julie D’Addio, has really put together a great program for the spiritual enrichment of our little children, and we’ll have a number of teens helping additional parents carry out the summer fun and learning about the Bible opportunities.If the success of the previous programs we’ve had is any indication of where we’ll be going this summer, the kids are really going to enjoy it all the way. We congratulate Sister Eileen Sullivan, Principal of Pope John Paul II High School, on the occasion of her 50th (or golden) anniversary as a religious woman. Her dedication and boundless energy has already endeared her to many students and their families. May God bless her with good health.

Very Rev. Canon Tom