Cathy Phillips
When I signed David up for Religious Education, I went to the new parent meeting. Fr. Stenzel was telling us new parents that he understands that it is hard to get the kids to church and to CCD. He said “If you have to make a choice between bringing your kids to church or bringing them to Religious Education each week, please bring them to church. Because we can’t teach them to play baseball if they have never been to a game.” I love that.
Jessica was born in June 2001. Her baptism was scheduled for September 16, 2001. Then the world stopped when September 11th happened. We were wavering on whether or not to cancel her baptism. It did not seem the right time to celebrate and have a party. St. Francis did not cancel the baptism, so we did not cancel our plans. At the service, Fr. Bill said “There are some people who think we should have canceled this and given ourselves some time to heal. I would argue that HERE is exactly where we should be … bringing new life into our church … celebrating new life.” It made us all feel a little better.