Hello San Damiano Group,

We are again in Ordinary Time, but it certainly is not an ordinary set of events we have coming up.

As you may know, the Year of the Priest is coming to a close this Friday on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  As, you may remember last year there was an all-night prayer vigil held to honor the beginning of the Year of the Priest.  Last year we played for the early morning Mass that concluded the prayer vigil (it was the same day as the spaghetti supper).   To commemorate the end of the Year of the Priest, there will be another vigil and we have been again asked to play.  The Mass is at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 12^th at St. Anthony of Padua’s Parish in Chicopee.  Understandably, this early hour will present a difficulty for some people, but we hope to send at least a few to show our support.  Afterwards, we will have our second annual breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.

On Saturday evening following Mass, we will have a special San Damiano Group gathering in the school to celebrate the year of the priest.  This is not going to be a gym night, but just a special San Damiano Group event.

Our Monthly Formation meeting will take place on Friday June 25^th at 7 p.m. in school library.  Please make every effort to attend.

We are in the process of preparing for our summer camp.  Father Marek will be meeting with Tracy in June.  At this point, we have reached the maximum number of participants that the facilities can handle and we have two people on the waiting list.  In light of this, we will not be accepting any more applications.

Reminder: many of you have still not sent in your Medical Release forms for the Summer Camp.  The form (attached) must be put in Father Marek’s mailbox at the parish office by Friday (11^th) at the latest.

Several people have asked about World Youth Day Payments.  The next payment of $600 will be due July 8^th.  So far, we have had few successful fundraisers but there is certainly still much work to be done.  We will schedule a meeting soon for those who are going to World Youth Day.  In the meantime we encourage everyone to take initiative in personally saving money for this trip.

We remind all those attending World Youth Day that the formation and friendships gained in preparation are important to getting the most out of the pilgrimage.  As such, we highly encourage you to get involved with some of the San Damiano Group events, especially the formation meeting held on the last Friday of each month (see above).

Peace in Christ,

Matt Kelly