Fr. Jeffrey Kirby

I’ve always been convinced that the best way to evangelize is through culture. Not only through our popular culture but through the Church’s culture itself. This evening was a great blessing as the parish hosted our first annual Evening of Catholic Culture.

I’m surprised how few Catholics really know our rich cultural patrimony, and so I was thrilled this evening to arrange for portions of our inheritance to be presented to the faithful!

We started with a concert of sacred music and then moved into a lecture by Dr. Carrie Gress based on her book “The Marian Option: God’s Solution to a Civilization in Crisis.”

It all went very well. Thanks be to God! Now, it’s time to rest!

What a great weekend at the parish! It was inspiring to see the small army of adults rally around and help the young people with the May Procession and Crowning! Mary and her beautiful virtues are truly the Queen of our parish!

Of course, right after the Crowning Mass, all our energies shifted in preparation for the Confirmation Mass next weekend! This preparation involved a practice with our Confirnation candidates and then a second practice with our altar servers. Needless to say, by the end of yesterday’s Masses and practices, my body was feeling the work of the kingdom!

But, after a little break, I wanted to work some more on my rectory library. It’s been a long project! Eventually all the books will be in the right place. It’s been hard the past couple of years not having easy access to all of my books. When the library is done, it will be the first time in almost seven years that ALL of my books and academic work will be in the same place!

All right, that’s just a few things. More later!

Dear Friends,

Happy Sunday to each of you!

Please be sure to sign up to bring something to the Parish Pot Luck Supper next Saturday evening. This is a great opportunity for us to spend time together as a faith community. Please make every effort you can to attend!

Also, the diocesan Office of Family Life is with us again to facilitate sign ups for our Marriage Enrichment Program. Once again, I ask our married couples to consider signing up for this four-part program that highlights Christian virtues in the marital relationship (please see the full-page ad in this bulletin).

On Friday and Saturday (October 7-8), I’m away from the parish visiting an old college friend and his family in Somerville, New Jersey, and leading a retreat at his parish. While I’m away, Fr. Timothy Gahan is covering Confessions and Masses. Father Gahan is one of our retired diocesan priests. He was a “late vocation,” having served in the US Marines and retiring as a colonel. Father Gahan was a widower when he entered the seminary and is a father and grandfather. I think you all will enjoy meeting him!

Some of you may have heard that I’ve been selected by Governor Nikki Haley to receive the Order of the Palmetto, which is South Carolina’s highest civilian honor. The award is being given in recognition of my previous work in the Vocations Office where I ministered to local communities throughout our state and developed programming to develop virtue and leadership among our young adults. I’m humbled by this honor while also being very grateful that the work of the Catholic Church is being recognized in our state. The private ceremony will be held on October 11 at the Statehouse in Columbia. The parish is hosting a congratulatory reception on Thursday morning (October 13). I hope many of you can come.

Thank you for the work that many of you are doing here at Our Lady of Grace… we are truly building on our past successes and entering a New Beginning together!

For the past month, I’ve been living at the Oratory in Rock Hill while a former building is being renovated into a rectory on the campus of my new parish. Being at the Oratory was a natural living arrangement since the Oratory created and has shepherded the community for the past eight years. But living in Rock Hill posed a forty minute drive one way! Today, I moved closer to my parish while work on the rectory is moving along. It’s my hope to move into the rectory soon! For now, I want to thank the Oratorian Fathers for their kindness and hospitality!