St. Barnabas and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament have merged to create a new parish named St. Martha. After the new parish celebrated their first Mass in June, they are now getting ready for their first combined lawn fete this weekend.

At the age of 90, Father Baker’s already extraordinary life was about to take another unexpected turn. This parish priest being promoted for sainthood by the Diocese of Buffalo and now known as Venerable Nelson Baker, established a ministry that is not well known, but its work was groundbreaking.

Holy Angels Academy will celebrate its 150th anniversary by giving birth to a middle school. The North Buffalo institution announced on June 7 that it will expand into teaching sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls under the name of Holy Angels Prep beginning September 2012.

Summerfest at Our Lady of Charity Parish in Buffalo will take place on Friday, July 29, from 6 to 11 p.m., and Saturday, July 30, from noon to 11 p.m. The event will be held on the grounds of the St. Ambrose worship site located at 65 Ridgewood Road.

“Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI” And with that, Benedict XVI became the first pope in history to tweet, as the Vatican launched its new website designed to combine print, radio, television, online and social media in one location.

Catholic Charities scored a major goal this year. The social service arm of the Diocese of Buffalo announced they raised $10.601,157.94 during this year’s appeal. That figure is more than $100,000 over the $10.5 million goal set in January. This is the first year the annual appeal has exceeded its goal since 2007 when that year’s $11 million goal was topped by $15,000.

“This is the first time in prayer history that the process of the formation of the Roman Missal has been online before, during and after publication,” said Father Czeslaw M. Krysa, director of the office of worship for the Diocese of Buffalo. “The purpose of the websites is to educate and inform the people. The Internet has direct availability of text and educational resources.”

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Dozens of people from the Diocese of Buffalo will be among the more than 1 million pilgrims in Madrid, Spain, for this year’s World Youth Day. The international event gathers people from across the globe to share, learn and experience Jesus Christ. WYD 2011 takes place Aug. 16-21 and is open to people of all ages, although the majority range from 18-25 years old.

Many times in varied ways, we are called to be “missionary.” The faithful in our diocesan parishes illuminate like “stars” in their response to the needs of the Church near and far. We assist the missions, Catholic Relief Services, when unexpected natural disasters occur, black and Native American Missions and also the Catholic League for Religious Assistance to Poland. Truly the sun never sets on our charity.