Welcome to June! Our Parish Picnic is this Wednesday on the SSP campus, with Mass at 8 a.m., a parade following, and then lots of fun from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. I went last year and marveled at the energy. It’s a classic South City experience! I hope to see you there — and a big thank you to all the leaders and volunteers who make it happen.

I have the bittersweet duty of telling you that Msgr. Vince Bommarito will be retiring at the end of June. I am grateful that the Archbishop has recognized Monsignor’s accomplishments and has honored his many years of service to the church by granting Monsignor’s request for retirement.

I will miss Monsignor very much. He has been a huge treasure to me, one of God’s biggest gifts to me in the past year, and a wonderful boost to our church. His joyful spirit and his deep love for the Eucharist shows me the sort of parish priest I want to be. I will miss hearing him tell us to develop our personal spirituality, and I will miss his helping us find the fun in parish life. Monsignor is a hard worker, a caring pastor, and a joyful and supportive brother! He has been a wealth of good counsel as we formed our school strategic plan, navigated our first year of transition, and tried to understand what makes a difference for people meeting Jesus and coming to faith in our neighborhood. We all owe Monsignor a debt of gratitude for finding the initial $100,000 source of funding for the Msgr. Vince Bommarito Scholarship Fund benefiting our school children.

We’ll have a going-away party for Msgr. Bommarito on June 30, 2024, at the Fr. Keaney Center on the IHM campus after the 10 a.m. Mass. Make plans to join us for a heartfelt farewell and a grateful celebration. Msgr. Bommarito, tanti auguri. You will be missed! 

I’ve also learned that Fr. Tim Foley, a retired priest, will be moving into the rectory on the SJB campus with me and will be helping us in SSP Parish. Fr. Tim has a wonderful spirit and is excited to assist with sacraments and the life of our parish. For that reason, I don’t anticipate that we’ll see any change to our regular schedule of Masses.

Since Fr. Tim is retired, it’s important that we give him time away to see family and friends, as he so richly deserves. It’s also important that we respect Fr. Tim’s freedom to work on ministries for which he has a special love. That means I may need to adjust the projects I work on in our parish, since my duties at the Tribunal will remain the same. I’ll also be consulting with our Transition Team, Finance Council, and staff on how we can use the rectory at the IHM campus to help our parish grow, whether as new space for our ministries, or as a space we lease to someone for some good

Last year, as we headed into the big transition, one of our parishioners gave me a t-shirt which has now become one of my favorites. It reads: “Joy: Life’s About Change.”  Day in and day out, Msgr. has shown me how to live with joy through all life’s changes. May God give us the grace to remember and follow his good example.

Please pray for our parish, and God bless you!