Pastoral Ministry Opportunity
We need someone to coordinate our parish ministry to parishioners who live in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospitalsor at home and who are unable to join us around the Table of the Lord each week. If you are a Eucharistic minister and can spare about 2 -4 hours a month to coordinate this ministry, we need your help. This involves maintaining a list of parishioners who want to receive the Eucharist in their home or other residential setting, assigning Eucharistic ministers to visit and distribute the Eucharist, coordinating with the various facilities to ensure that St. Peter's has a visible presence for their Catholic residents.
This ministry can easily be done from home but basic computer skills would be helpful. If you are interested or want to learn more about this important ministry please email Deacon Ed at deaconed@stpetersaratoga.org or call the parish office.
Thank you.
We need someone to coordinate our parish ministry to parishioners who live in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospitalsor at home and who are unable to join us around the Table of the Lord each week. If you are a Eucharistic minister and can spare about 2 -4 hours a month to coordinate this ministry, we need your help. This involves maintaining a list of parishioners who want to receive the Eucharist in their home or other residential setting, assigning Eucharistic ministers to visit and distribute the Eucharist, coordinating with the various facilities to ensure that St. Peter's has a visible presence for their Catholic residents.
This ministry can easily be done from home but basic computer skills would be helpful. If you are interested or want to learn more about this important ministry please email Deacon Ed at deaconed@stpetersaratoga.org or call the parish office.
Thank you.
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COOKS ON CALL
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The Little Cabin in the woods.... The rest of the story August 29, 2022
By Deacon Ed Solomon
As you may know this year our parish adopted and completely renovated a little cabin in the woods at Pine Grove Campground to offer housing to a family working on the backstretch at the Saratoga Race Track. Over forty parishioners scraped, painted, scrubbed walls, cleared overgrown brush and completely furnished the cabin and provided a welcome basket of gifts for the family and toys for the children.
Recently I had the opportunity to visit with the family now living In our little cabin in the woods. We had a wonderful time and they all spoke much better English than I spoke Spanish! The family of four consists of a Dad who works on the backstretch, his wife who manages the home and cares for their daughter and their sixteen year old son who is saving money for college. He wants to be an architect. He works at the track everyday parking cars. He is up at 4:00 am to get ready for work at 5:00 a.m. Their daughter is nine years old. She was so excited about living in the woods for the summer, she told me: “I want to stay here where I can play outside with other kids. At home we don’t have a backyard.” They are a very Catholic family and active in their home parish in NYC where the son is an altar boy. They have a deep devotion to their faith and to the Blessed Mother. The mom told me that she was so touched by the cabin trim which is painted in “Blessed Mother blue.” As with many Spanish families everyone is named after a saint.
Upon my arrival the family greeted me with big hugs and a warm welcome. They expressed heartfelt gratitude for all those who helped make that cabin a special home for them during the summer. Dad told me that he always brings some tools so he can fix up the cabin assigned to his family but this year he just sat outside remarking: ”There is nothing for me to fix!” What a relief for a man who works long hours in the heat. The kids shared how much they liked their toys and gifts; everyone felt grateful for their new beds and mattresses. Even though it was a very tight fit to get two beds and a cot in that small space, from listening to them you would have thought they were staying at the Waldorf Astoria!
There is much more to this story that cannot fit in this column but as I drove home that night and thought about the love, gratefulness and joy that emanated from this family, I was deeply touched. It was God’s love that united us with this family whose lives are much like ours. God’s love makes all of us one with them and so many others in this world who just want an opportunity to live fuller, happier and productive lives. That night with the lights on in all the cabins, the reign of God shone brightly in Saratoga Springs.
By Deacon Ed Solomon
As you may know this year our parish adopted and completely renovated a little cabin in the woods at Pine Grove Campground to offer housing to a family working on the backstretch at the Saratoga Race Track. Over forty parishioners scraped, painted, scrubbed walls, cleared overgrown brush and completely furnished the cabin and provided a welcome basket of gifts for the family and toys for the children.
Recently I had the opportunity to visit with the family now living In our little cabin in the woods. We had a wonderful time and they all spoke much better English than I spoke Spanish! The family of four consists of a Dad who works on the backstretch, his wife who manages the home and cares for their daughter and their sixteen year old son who is saving money for college. He wants to be an architect. He works at the track everyday parking cars. He is up at 4:00 am to get ready for work at 5:00 a.m. Their daughter is nine years old. She was so excited about living in the woods for the summer, she told me: “I want to stay here where I can play outside with other kids. At home we don’t have a backyard.” They are a very Catholic family and active in their home parish in NYC where the son is an altar boy. They have a deep devotion to their faith and to the Blessed Mother. The mom told me that she was so touched by the cabin trim which is painted in “Blessed Mother blue.” As with many Spanish families everyone is named after a saint.
Upon my arrival the family greeted me with big hugs and a warm welcome. They expressed heartfelt gratitude for all those who helped make that cabin a special home for them during the summer. Dad told me that he always brings some tools so he can fix up the cabin assigned to his family but this year he just sat outside remarking: ”There is nothing for me to fix!” What a relief for a man who works long hours in the heat. The kids shared how much they liked their toys and gifts; everyone felt grateful for their new beds and mattresses. Even though it was a very tight fit to get two beds and a cot in that small space, from listening to them you would have thought they were staying at the Waldorf Astoria!
There is much more to this story that cannot fit in this column but as I drove home that night and thought about the love, gratefulness and joy that emanated from this family, I was deeply touched. It was God’s love that united us with this family whose lives are much like ours. God’s love makes all of us one with them and so many others in this world who just want an opportunity to live fuller, happier and productive lives. That night with the lights on in all the cabins, the reign of God shone brightly in Saratoga Springs.
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