Dear Brothers and Sisters of St. Andrew the Apostle,

For all the parish news and events, please read the bulletin or our parish website. Here's a glimpse of what is coming up:

• The second collection this weekend is for the care and support of the retired priests of the Diocese of Arlington. As a future-retired priest, this cause is close to my heart! There are currently 29 retired priests from our Diocese, and an additional 22 priests who will retire in the next decade. My retirement year is 2045, God-willing, so I've got a ways to go. Thank you in advance for your generosity in supporting those men who gave their lives in service of Jesus and His Church in the Diocese of Arlington!
• A Holy Hour for Vocations will take place this morning, Saturday, May 17, at 9:45 AM (after the 9:00 AM Mass). This event is sponsored by the Serra Club of Arlington, whose mission is to promote vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. All are welcome. Please join us to pray for those discerning vocations, as well as for those who are currently priests and consecrated religious.
• The final Youth Group event of the school year is tonight at 6:30 PM. It will include the end-of-the-year slideshow! Come enjoy one more joyful gathering before summer!
• The Knights of Columbus will host a Coffee and Donuts sale after the 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, and 10:30 AM Masses tomorrow.
• The Knights will also be collecting for KOVAR after all of the Masses this weekend. KOVAR is a Knights of Columbus charity to support those with intellectual disabilities. Please be generous!
• The closing Mass for our Religious Education school year is this Sunday at 12:30 PM. Awards will be presented after Mass in the church.
• On Monday, May 19, the St. Ann and Joachim 55+ group will meet in the Padre Pio Room after the 12:00 PM Mass. More information here.
• Monday, May 26, is Memorial Day. The parish and school offices will be closed and there will be no Eucharistic Exposition. Masses will be at 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM.

Priests and parishioners throughout the Diocese get nervous around this time of year because the Bishop announces the clergy assignment changes in May. He did so on Thursday. The changes will take place on June 26.

Since I arrived at St. Andrew's, we've had a priest change every two years, which is unusual. For example, Fr. Bergida was at the parish for six years. Yet in the past five years, Fr. Bresnanan and Fr. Smith left St. Andrew's after two years. The good news is that Fr. Wilton will remain for a third year.

More unexpected good news is that Fr. Joseph Townsend, currently assigned as parochial vicar at the Basilica of St. Mary's in Old Town, will join us on June 26 as our third priest. The last time we had two parochial vicars assisting the pastor was in 2018, the last year that Fr. Ruskamp was here.

Fr. Townsend was part of the 2021 ordination class that also included Fr. Jonathan Smith. Fr. Townsend entered the seminary when I was secretary to Bishop Loverde, so I knew him as a seminarian. We were also together for a summer when I was at St. Veronica, and he was assigned there as a seminarian. Fr. Townsend is one of the Masters of Ceremonies who assist the Bishop at important liturgies of the Diocese, and he is very good at it. He will continue to serve the Bishop in that function while he is at St. Andrew's, which is an honor for him and for us.

As providence would have it, Fr. Townsend is giving the Two Minutes to Virtue videos this month for the Diocese. You can see them here, here, and here.

... Another exciting new assignment is Fr. Bresnahan being named the new pastor of St. Leo the Great in Fairfax. St. Leo the Great was my first parish assignment as a priest, and it is a thriving parish with a school. I know that Fr. Bresnahan will bring a lot of joy and energy with him in that new assignment and the parishioners and students will love him!

... A third significant move is the soon-to-be Fr. Christian Njodzela's assignment to St. Veronica. I learned a lot from Monsignor Kleinmann, the pastor of St. Veronica, in my two years there, so I am happy for Deacon Christian. Spending these last three years getting to know Christian, I am also happy for Monsignor Kleinmann, because it is clear he is getting a holy, joyful, and hard-working priest to assist him in his pastoral duties.

So let us pray for all of the clergy who will have new assignments this year. And let us also pray for those parishioners who will be saddened to lose one of their favorite parish priests in the transfers. Bishop Burbidge always says that it's better to have parishioners who are saddened when a priest moves from their parish than those who are happy when a priest leaves. However, I know that many strong relationships are formed between priests and parishioners, and these transfers can be difficult. I find it helpful to remember that we are blessed to have the time we have with a certain priest, Bishop, deacon, or seminarian. If the Lord chooses to bless another place, we should focus on the good we received during his time here and be happy for the people who will be blessed by his presence at his new assignment.

... One last note: today is the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, also known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux. I was reading her autobiography, Story of a Soul, when I was discerning whether to enter the seminary. The simplicity of her holiness and prayer drew me into a more contemplative way of prayer at a time when I needed it most. Shortly afterward, my Aunt Theresa gave me a relic of St. Thérèse, and I've always had a special devotion to her. Before her death, she said, “I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens; I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth.” In this she shows herself to be a powerful intercessor, while also witnessing to the love of the saints in heaven. While so much of our lived are spent looking after our own needs, we will not become saints until we can say that we are not fulfilled until we spend our lives seeking to do good for others. So let us ask St. Thérèse to shower down Christ's graces upon us through her intercession, and to pray that our hearts may be transformed to be like her heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Be assured of my prayers for you and your intentions. Please pray for me as well!

In Christ,

Fr. Wagner