Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,
This Saturday, June 15, sixteen men will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Washington (or already have been ordained, depending on when you read this). This is our largest ordination class since 1962 and the largest class in the nation this year! It is a clear sign of the health of our local church that many men are still attracted to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. St. Martin’s rejoices in a particular way with this year’s class, because one of those priests, Dylan Prentice, is a son of our own parish. In addition, four others have served here as seminarians in recent years: Chris Feist, James Fangmeyer, Joe Heisey and Steve Wong.
It is a joy for us to welcome back Fr. Sean O’Connor this weekend. After serving as a deacon on the weekends at St. Martin’s this past year, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Colorado Springs on June 8. He is offering Masses of Thanksgiving at the 8:00am French and the 10:30am Spanish Masses this weekend.
Next Sunday, June 23, Fr. Dylan Prentice is going to celebrate the 9:00am and 10:30am Masses. After the 10:30am Mass, we welcome all parishioners to the picnic area outside of the Sisters’ convent to celebrate and congratulate Fr. Dylan. If you would like to contribute by bringing food or decorations, please contact Sr. Mariana or Diana in the parish office.
Lastly, you won’t want to miss Fr. Patrick’s farewell party on Sunday, June 30 at 2:30pm in the parish hall. After three years of intense sacramental ministry, pastoral service, generosity of spirit, preaching and teaching—all while learning Spanish— we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Fr. Pat. Christ has shared his own heart with us through his priesthood. Reach out to Diana in the parish office to see how you can contribute.
In Christ,
Fr. Dave
