There is still so much summer left, and you probably haven’t even begun thinking about fall and the upcoming school year yet, but I have.

I am especially delighted, and even amused, to welcome one particular new teacher to our St. Vincent de Paul school this fall. Miss Amanda Sullivan will be teaching fifth grade. It will take time for me to adjust to seeing Amanda in the teaching role – because she used to be one of my students. Amanda was in third grade when I was assigned, fresh out of seminary, to Epiphany parish and school in Coon Rapids. Surely Amanda will credit me for helping her to grow so well in wisdom, grace, and age – and for supporting her as she mastered, as an eighth grader, the starring role of Snow White in the school play (I had a brief cameo role in that play. After Snow White died I walked on stage with the seven dwarfs and sprinkled her body with holy water).

Keep investing in the children. Keep them immersed in a community of prayer and faith, of love of God and one another. God has a plan for each one of them to offer their lives in beautiful ways – in love and service, in virtue and holiness, all for the glory of God.


Fr. Dennis Zehren

Pastor