Fr. E. Philip O’Hern Council 10776, St. Austin Catholic Church in Austin

The Knights were involved in the ordination of the newest Paulist priest, Fr. Paolo Puccini CSP, who was ordained at St. Austin Catholic Church on Saturday July 25^th. This was the first ordination to occur at St. Austin’s so this was a very big event. The Council provided four ushers to greet the guests and maintain social distancing for the Ordination Mass. Such an occasion would call for a large reception but due to pandemic restrictions, all the celebrating that day was done virtually. Since the ordination had been delayed two months, some of the Paulists at their mother church in New York City wondered when it would occur so they prepared a special musical tribute for the occasion; watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71HjTxsONzA&feature=youtu.be

On Sunday evening, the whole church was invited to celebrate with a car parade. First, four Council members presented Fr. Paolo with a card and gift. We then directed the first-ever St. Austin’s Ordination Car Parade, dubbed the Parade of Blessing. We staged the cars in the church garage and directed them up San Antonio Street to the school blacktop where they drove past Fr. Paolo to greet him by waving and honking horns and receive a blessing. This was the first time that the Council was able to do anything as a group since the onset of Covid-19 isolation. It felt good to be together again!

It is time for school to start! The teachers and staff of St. Austin Catholic School are working hard to prepare for a very different school year due to Covid-19. The Council lets them know how much we appreciate their efforts by conducting our Teacher Appreciation event on Aug. 13th. In past years this has included a group lunch and small gifts. No large group gatherings allowed this year so instead we provided each teacher and staff member with a $20 gift card for those last-minute classroom expenses.

(see File: 3 Council 10776 Teacher Appreciation gifts.jpg) Caption: Council 10776 gave gift cards for St. Austin Catholic School Teacher and Staff Appreciation Event.