Neighborhood Gatherings
In building community, Holy Comforter is organizing neighborhood gatherings as a way for parishioners to get to know one another better in a faith-based setting. The program of these gatherings may include Mass, prayer, discussion of various faith-related topics or scripture, and fellowship. The goal is to meet as a neighborhood once per quarter. The initial Rio Road East, Melborne Road, and Huntington Road gathering was held on Friday, May 15, 2015 at Judy and John Putalik’s home. Father Joseph Mary celebrated Mass for the fourteen attendees. The next Gathering for this geographic area is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 9 at the home of Cynthia and Les Berlin. If you live in this area (Rio Road East, Melborne Road, and Huntington Road) and are interested in attending one of our Gatherings, please contact Les Berlin at [email protected]. As we get closer to the actual date we will have pulpit announcements and a sign–up sheet in the Commons to further develop interest.
Keep checking back for announcements for a Neighborhood Gathering near you.
For our first get together:
Glenmore
Attention Glenmore residents who are members of our Holy Comforter church. Following the great hope born of the New Evangelization, we would like to start a Glenmore Holy Comforter community. We would meet as a large family periodically throughout the year at one of our homes. We would pray, laugh, share good snacks and fellowship. If you are interested in such a project, please let me know at [email protected] with your name, address and phone number. God’s blessings. Dominique Faust 3226 Avebury.” Date and time to be determined.
Following is a nice letter about our recent gathering in Glenmore:
Hi everyone. My name is Dominique Faust and, like you, my family and I are privileged to be members of Holy Comforter Church. We too think that the New Evangelization program that was started in our diocese (and around the U.S. and maybe the world) is a tremendous breath of spiritual air and gives us all great joy and hope.
As a part of this program, my husband and I are part of what is called Neighborhood Gatherings. As such, on June 27th, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we had the great honor of welcoming in our home 19 of our Holy Comforter fellow parishioners who like us live in Glenmore. Some we already knew, some we were so happy to meet. After a short beautiful welcome, Father Joseph Mary celebrated Holy Mass. Tremendous grace. Then after we shared simple snacks and drinks, Father explained to us what we are hoping to achieve in such a Neighborhood Gathering and many of us expressed our views about it. We plan to meet quarterly. In order to prepare us for our next meeting at the end of September Father suggested that we study the Gospel of St. Luke and that we pray daily for one another, as we think of how the first Christians lived their faith in Jesus Christ as related to us in the Acts of the Apostles. We so look forward to our next meeting and with the help of the Holy Spirit to grow together in the love of the Lord and one another, and in the joyful gratitude for our Faith. The meeting lasted a little under 2 hours. We are sure that as such neighborhood gatherings multiply they will be a great source of joy, of support and of courage in the hard times we live in.
God’s peace
Dominique