Dear Parishioners,

Today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare … Rejoice) Sunday. This week- end’s readings focus on reconciliation, forgiveness, and moving forward. Forgiveness is one- sided; one can choose to forgive, but reconciliation requires two people in the act of coming together. God offers us both forgiveness and reconciliation and does not hold our sins against us once we have asked for forgiveness. Are we able to do the same with one another? (It is interesting to note that we will have the Gospel of the Prodigal Son three times this year: on Saturday, March 23, this weekend, and on Sunday, September 15, 2019!)

Next weekend will be the Fifth Sunday of Lent, formerly known as “Passion Sunday.” Next weekend’s readings are filled, not only with examples of God’s abundant mercy and love, but of right living. Paul reminds us that everything outside of the pursuit of Christ is rubbish. And if we are to call ourselves followers of Christ, we must keep our focus on what lies ahead. Let us begin by letting go of our judgments and our earthly desires so we may enter into this time with our minds and hearts lifted completely to God.”

The Sacrament of Penance: This coming Wednesday evening, April 3, we will have our Lenten Parish Penance Service.  It will begin at 7:00 P.M.  One reason that we are having it on a Wednesday is to encourage parents of our PSR students to attend. (Even though we had the Sacrament of Penance available for our PSR students last Wednesday, not that many parents

attended.) There will be additional priests available that evening. Again, this coming Wednesday, beginning at 7:00 P.M. In addition, we will have both Fr Mike and myself “in the confessionals” next Saturday, April 6, from 1:00 until 2:30 P.M. We will take a break and be available again from 3:30 until 4:30 P.M. like always. There will also be additional times for the Sacrament of Penance / Reconciliation / Confessions during Holy Week. Those times will be listed next week.

The BIG news of the week is the selection of a new principal for our Parish School. If you are a parent at school, you received the following via “Fast Direct” on Monday, March 25. If you are a parishioner, and we have your e-mail address, a “blast” was sent out on Tuesday, March 26 to all of you. The following is for the rest of you and is the same (except for the font!) as was communicated to the parents on March 25th and the Parish at large on March 26th:

St. Monica School Principal Announcement:

 Father Weber, the School Board, and the Principal Selection Committee are excited to announce Mrs. Tammi Rohman will be the new principal of St. Monica School starting in the 2019 – 2020 school year!

In the search for our new school principal, we utilized an extensive selection process, which included listening sessions, surveys, multiple interviews and a final round of meetings with representatives of parents, parishioners, teachers, and students. While we were fortunate to have many good candidates to choose from, Mrs. Rohman is the best choice for St. Monica School based on our needs and her outstanding work experiences and accomplishments as a Catholic educational leader.

About Mrs.Tammi Rohman:

Mrs. Rohman has spent the past 13 years as a Catholic school principal working at St. Peter School in St. Charles, MO and most recently as principal at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Washington, MO. Prior to serving as the principal at St. Peter School, Mrs. Rohman worked at St. Richard School for 14 years in various roles including Assistant Principal, 5th Grade Homeroom teacher, and the English instruc- tor for 5th through 8th Grade students.

Mrs. Rohman’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, a Master of Arts in Elementary Education, an Administrative Certificate, Career Continuous Professional Certificates in Elementary Education, Language Arts, and Social Studies, and the Paul VI (Religion) Certificate from the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Mrs. Rohman is recognized as a collaborative leader with valuable experiences in academic program development, STREAM initiatives, strategic planning, and the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ School Im- provement Plan and accreditation process. In addition, Mrs. Rohman is an Active Shooter trainer and presenter, as well as a Safety Environment Coordinator and presenter for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Further, Mrs. Rohman has volunteered with the Office of Youth Ministry since 1999, where she enjoys leading REAP retreats for students and supporting Generation Life. Finally, Mrs. Rohman is active in her parish serving as a Eucharistic Minister, Lector, and serves on the Liturgy Commission committee.

On a personal note, Mrs. Rohman lives in St. Ann with her husband. They have three children (two recent college graduates and one daughter currently attending Benedictine University).

Conclusion of the Selection Process:

Father Weber, the School Board, and the Principal Selection Committee thank the entire St. Monica community for your prayers and your support during the selection process. We particularly thank those teachers, students, parents and parishioners who participated in the process. Your feedback was invaluable.

Finally, watch your email and the bulletin for an opportunity to meet and welcome Mrs. Rohman to the St. Monica community in the near future. Plan on joining us to welcome Mrs. Rohman!

New Elevator and Hall Renovation: As was mentioned the past couple of weeks, asbestos was found in the areas of the new construction and hall renovation. Accordingly asbestos abatement, following all of the Federal abatement regulations and clean air standards, will begin this coming week. We had hoped to have the hall available for the reception following the Easter Vigil, but that is not possible. However, with this abatement we will have an asbestos free area going into the future. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Parish Pasta Dinner: Information about this social event is elsewhere in the bulletin. It will be next Friday, April 5. I hope that we will see a lot of our parishioners at this event in our school cafeteria. It should be an enjoyable meal and time together.

I hope that your Lenten Season is going well and will be particularly fruitful for you. Faithfully yours,

Fr Joe Weber