Dear Friends,
On behalf of Fr. Kingsley, I want to thank you all for the kind welcome we received last weekend, our first in the parish. He and I are both excited to be with you and to call Holy Name our new home.
I wanted to take this opportunity to help you get to know me a bit. I often communicate via the bulletin with regard to parish updates, thank you’s, and at times to address non-urgent matters. I also use this platform as a means to expound on Church teaching, to address various cultural issues, and to speak about liturgical feasts and seasons. Therefore, should you want to know what I have to say about a particular topic, check the bulletin. Should you have any suggestions as to what I should address, please let me know – this could also be used as a way to answer questions you might have.
Now for a bit about me. I am a native of North Adams – almost the furthest northwest corner of the Diocese of Springfield! I still have family there. I am the youngest of 5 siblings – 3 brothers and 1 sister. I have several nieces and nephews. My mother lives in Florida and my father passed away in 2006. I went to public school. I graduated from Franciscan University in 2003. I went to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy for my studies for the priesthood and was ordained in 2008. I have had several assignments in the Diocese since ordination, most recently I was the pastor of Holy Family in South Deerfield for the last 7 years.
My new assignment is now 3-fold. I am here at Holy Name as your pastor, I am the chaplain of Pope Francis Preparatory School, and I am the Director of Recruiting for the Office of Vocations – which I’m sure you knew already since I was here not too long ago to preach on vocations, an experience that was indeed a delight. So, you can surmise that I wear a lot of hats and am a busy man. I want to be as present to the parish as I possibly can be. I want to get to know you. Nevertheless, I kindly ask that you be patient with me as I get settled and with my busy schedule.
At this time, I am just looking forward to the summer when I will have some time to get to know the parish and see how things operate. And of course, I look forward to getting to know you. Please pray for Father Kingsley and me and know of our prayers for you.
God bless!!
Fr. Jon