Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Thank you to so many of you who have asked about my recent va- cation to the Jersey shore. Overall, it was very pleasant and restful. In some ways, it felt like a retreat because I didn’t do much more than take a walk on the beach each morning, and a fair amount of reading (an older novel by Ken Follett if you’re curious).
You might remember that I had mentioned before my departure that I had begun to try my hand at composing hymn tunes. So, I took my laptop with me, and ended up composing ten hymn tunes in various meters and keys. For many of the texts, I turned to the poetry of Rev. Carl P. Daw, Jr., an Episcopal priest whose hymn texts have been published in a number of hymnals.
Almost every hymn tune has a name, which is usually printed above or below the music. Very often, the name is derived from the location in which the tune was composed. If we sing any of my tunes, you might recognize a name like “Church Street”. For those tunes which I wrote during my vacation, I used the name “Margate” as well as several of the streets in Margate: “Mansfield”, “Nassau”, “Osborne”, etc.
I returned from south Jersey just in time to welcome Archbishop Coyne on Thursday, July 31th, for a visit to our Sandwich Ministry. Joining him was a Hartford seminarian, Brendan Finnegan, who is currently doing his theology studies in Rome. Archbishop Coyne has been visiting various social service agencies throughout the archdi- ocese that receive funds from the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal, and the Sandwich Ministry of the Franciscan Center is a beneficiary.n Bloomfield where she would be the executive assistant to the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Hartford.
During his visit, the Archbishop and Brendan chatted with members of our staff, including Fr. Mike Johnson, Director of the Franciscan Center, and the other friars, as well as volunteers who were helping to prepare the meals. A collage of photos on the front cover of today’s bulletin includes Kim Nardone, Kathleen Buckley, Sister Beth Fisher, Maureen Grothaus, Rolande Brunelle and Sarah Christopher.
Archbishop Coyne and Brendan spent some time chatting with the guests of the sandwich ministry while handing out prepared meals and water. Afterwards, they took a brief tour of the offices in the Franciscan Center, including my own. You can see me in the photo above pointing out one of the mementos I keep in my office.
Archbishop Coyne expressed his sincere gratitude and admiration for the ministries we carry out here at St. Patrick-St. Anthony under the umbrella of the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry, as well as for the many members of our parish who volunteer their time to help others in need.
Blessings on your week ahead!
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.
Pastor