Last June I became the pastor of St. Patrick's Parish succeeding Fr. Paul Ortmeier. As pastor, I oversee the school system, which includes St. Mary's Junior and Senior High School. I am fortunate to work with Principal Ningen and an active School Board in keeping the tradition of Catholic secondary school as an important mission of St. Patrick's Parish. There are many challenges to keep St. Mary's Junior and Senior High School growing spiritually and academically, and there are certainly plenty of challenges to meet to address the financial needs that go along with maintaining this important institution of ST. Mary's in our community.

I would like to invite the student body of St. Mary's to be of help to me in my role as pastor. First, I would like each student to be a positive public relations worker on behalf of the school. This can be as simple as having a good attitude about the institution you are attending. The student handbook gives guidelines for you to follow to be respectful and mature young adults. If you take pride in our school, it will make school more enjoyable and, a neat side effect is that others in our community will see St. Mary's as a real blessing in our community.

Secondly, I have asked you to provide service as part of your religion classes. Service to others is an important part of what it means to be a Christian. The religion classes are to provide twelve hours of service each semester. This can be service in school, in the parish, in your family, or in the community. (The seniors were exempt from the service requirement the first semester because I was unable to visit their classroom and explain the service dimension to them.)

Thirdly, I want to ask you to continue your help with the liturgical life of the parish. I appreciate the cooperation of each class in assisting with the liturgical ministries at regular school liturgi3es and at monthly parish liturgy. When you share in the liturgical life of the school and the parish in prayer and worship, you are able to express your faith and you also enrich the entire parish.