I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been extremely grateful for the assistance offered by our four permanent deacons. They are extremely generous with their time and ministry, whether it is baptizing children, witnessing marriages, or speaking with parishioners. Recently they have been present at Mass to guide Fr. Willig in his first few weeks and assisting visiting priests. When a priest celebrates Mass at a new location, it is a blessing to have a permanent deacon to explain the local customs.

Our deacons are taking on a new task over these next few months. They wanted to become familiar with serving at all four churches, so they are rotating through the six Mass times. You may see a deacon that you don’t recognize at Mass, or maybe you’ve seen him when you went to Mass at one of our other parishes. Feel free to welcome him, thank him for his service, and introduce yourself.

Speaking of friendly assistance, Fr. Jedidiah wrote a very nice thank you note in last week’s bulletin. If you didn’t see it, try to track down a copy and read it. Fr. Jedidiah will be in and out of our parishes for the next few weeks. He is helping out area parishes with Masses until he moves to Carmel in late August/early September.

Fr. Willig and I decided that having a third priest around is a blessing too good to pass up. Over the next two weeks, Fr. Willig and I will take some vacation time. Fr. Jedidiah has generously offered to cover the Masses while we are away. Fr. Willig will be away during this upcoming week. The following week (August 1-8), I’ll be gone during the week and through the weekend. It is a blessing to have Fr. Jedidiah around and able to cover Masses for us.

Finally, numerous parishioners at St. Joseph have helped with Bingo over the past few years. Recently Bob Kohlrieser, Mary Ellen Fry, and Jane McNeal have led Bingo. Since it returned after the pandemic, it hasn’t gathered the number of attendees as in the past. With the costs associated to run Bingo, the group decided that it isn’t advantageous to keep running it. With that being said, this Tuesday, July 26th will be the final St. Joseph Bingo at the Wapakoneta Knights of Columbus Hall.

The parish is incredibly grateful for everyone who supported Bingo over the last 38 years. It was founded to sustain St. Joseph School as long as possible. It fulfilled this mission for twelve years after the school closed. It is estimated that Bingo donated 2.1 million dollars to the school and church. So many parishioners pitched in to run Bingo and thus support the parish. We would like to thank everyone who participated in Bingo at St. Joseph. There will be a thank you evening for all the volunteers. Even if you haven’t volunteered in years, please come to the event. The evening will begin at 7:00pm on Tuesday, August 30 in the St. Joseph Parish Life Center. It will be a low-key evening of desserts, memories, and possibly one last shot at getting five-in-a-row.

Thank you to all of you who support our parishes in so many ways. May the Lord continue to show you His love and mercy.

Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson