Bill Benedict has been a parishioner for as long as he can remember.  His parents, William & Theresa, are long-time, active members of OLC and instilled in Bill a sense of pride in and belonging to his church family.  His wife Christine was welcomed into our parish, after she and Bill married, some 13 years ago.  When their daughter Katherine was born, she was baptized here and has attended weekly Mass with her family since she was only a week old.

Bill was a believer in stewardship long before the term became widely used.  He has always believed that he should share with others the gifts God has given him, and he has always shared his time and talents with the parish.  Bill has always enjoyed bringing his God-given gift for music to the parish, where he began playing the organ and singing at Mass as a child and first played the Church organ during his Kindergarten graduation.  By the time he was in his early teens, he was playing at the 9 o’clock Mass each Sunday, throughout his high school and college years, and he then became the Choir Organist as a young adult.  Bill took a break from music when Katherine was born but continued to contribute to OLC as Parish Accountant.  Once Katherine was a bit older, he rejoined the choir as a tenor, and he continues to add his voice to the choir today. 

Christine is also a strong believer in stewardship and enjoys contributing her time and talent to the children of our parish as a CCD teacher and is the editor of the CCD newsletter.  This summer, she was especially happy to create and edit a CCD newsletter filled with contributions by the children of our parish, allowing them to experience the pride that comes with sharing their own time and talent with the parish. In addition to CCD, Christine likes to contribute what she calls “tiny treasures.”  These are the little contributions that do not take a lot of time but are heartfelt and meaningful to both the giver and the recipient.  Christine teaches her daughter Katherine that small things given from the heart are just as important as larger examples of stewardship.  Among such “tiny treasures” are prayers for the sick, an e-mail offering encouragement, a prayer letter to a teenager, cutting fruit for a retreat, contributing spare change to Project Rice Bowl or donating a bag of groceries for the needy.

Katherine, now 8 years old, has always enjoyed her experiences as part of the OLC family.  As a young child, she was very fond of the children’s liturgies, and also happily remembers church events such as picnics and Advent celebrations.  Now that she’s received her First Holy Communion, she feels proud that she can fully partake in Mass and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, each week.  Katherine prefers to sit very close to the front of the church during mass and, like her father, she joyfully raises her voice in song at each celebration.  Katherine is hoping for a children’s choir, so that she can sing in Church like her daddy.

This past year, the Benedicts have been the grateful recipient of parish stewardship as Christine and her family dealt with her cancer treatments and surgery.  Christine and Bill were blessed by the generous outpourings of care and prayer offered to them by Father Mike, Sister Arlene, and the parishioners of OLC.  Christine feels strongly that being the recipient of parish stewardship has had a profound effect on her health, her faith and her life.  She wishes to express her deep and humble gratitude for every prayer, every gift, every meal, every hug and every hand that reached out to help her and her family in their time of need.  She is happy to share the news that her chemotherapy, radiation and operations have been successful, and that she is currently cancer free and looks forward to contributing her time, talent and treasure to her parish family, for many years to come.