Just a reminder that our offices will be closed today (June 20), tomorrow (June 21) and Wednesday (June 22) and will reopen at 9am on Thursday (June 22). Your staff family will be taking this time to rest in the peace of summer, reflect on the word of the Lord and be renewed in the strength of the Holy Spirit. We appreciate your prayers and will keep you all in ours as well.

Our 'Blue Mass' is coming up on Friday, June 24 at 8:30am. We are in need of volunteers to help with the serving, greeting and food. If you are interested in helping, please sign up on Flocknote or call the office. We welcome anyone who is willing to help!

We want to thank the Knights of Columbus for their generous donation to St. Patrick. From the proceeds of the Fish Fry, they were able to give us $1500 to offset costs of our Amici, Fede, e Mangia event, $3500 to our debt reduction fund (with the diocese match, that makes it $7000!!) and $500 to Vacation Bible School. It's because of your participation in their events, that they were able to make such a thoughtful donation to our parish family.

We have a Music Ministry Coordinator update for our parish family. First, we would like to thank Donovan Moses for stepping up and taking on the role in our time of need. He has done an amazing job and we appreciate his gift of music and selfless sacrifice that he has poured into our parish. However, as his family is growing, he is going to be focusing on his vocation as a father and we are in need of a coordinator and music leader for all of our Masses. We are so happy to support his decision, and for now it means that we will be looking for a new Music Ministry Coordinator. Please be on the lookout for this job posting soon. Again, we are thankful to Donovan and know of our prayers for you during this time of transition.

For our Saint of the Week Series, I would like to introduce you to St. Rafael Guizar y Valencia (1878-1938). Born in Mexico, he lost his mother when he was nine years old. He spent his younger years studying in a religious school and then spent time with Jesuit priests. He was ordained at the age of twenty three. Before he was ordained even for ten years, a war began in Mexico and the government began killing priests. Instead of going into hiding, Fr. Rafael decided to dress up in disguise to bring the sacrament to people. Once Fr. Rafael was arrested for being a priest! He insisted to the authorities that he was a musician, and when they presented him an accordion to prove himself, he played beautifully. The authorities apologized and sent him on his way with not only the accordion but also fifty pesos. Fr. Rafael was named bishop in Mexico and the governor told the people that anyone who killed him would get a lot of money, but Fr. Rafael was not afraid. He spent the rest of his life serving freely. St. Rafael was also a Knight of Columbus! 

In today's world, we may feel that we are being persecuted for our beliefs, but may we all have the bravery of St. Rafael to stand up for what we believe.