From the Pastor
August/28/2009
It brightens my heart and it’s always so nice to see our parents and grandparents bringing the little children to weekday Mass, especially after dropping of the older children at school each morning. While we know of our serious Sunday obligation to attend Mass, weekday Masses provide us with additional opportunities to spend time with the Lord and to feel the power of His grace alive in our lives. It also presents us a means whereby the youngsters learn, by our good example, what we mean by “speaking to the Lord and listening to what He has to say.” The “little ones” learn so quickly from us that God’s House is a “House of Prayer.”
This coming Saturday, September 5th, is the 1st Saturday of the month, the day each month when faithful pro-life people come to the abortion center on Village Blvd. just above 45th St. to pray for the conversion of hearts – for those contemplating the crime of abortion and those assisting in procuring them. The Rosary begins at 9:00 a.m., and goes for a little over an hour. Some will also stay for the Divine Mercy devotions that follow. During this time, we sometimes are able to witness young, frightened women who receive our prayerful message and counseling and who then make a decision to keep their unborn baby. Some of them will even join us in prayer for their “sisters” to change their hearts, too. It is a safe environment, because police are always present, not to protect us, so much as to assist the cynical protagonists in their murderous work. Your presence is a great witness to respect life in all its stages: from the womb to the tomb. If you cannot travel that far to witness, then please pray for us in our mission there.
Please mark your calendars for our annual "LIFE CHAIN" in support of all human life. We will gather and pray for an hour at the corner of Linton Blvd. and Federal Hwy. in Delray Beach on Sunday, October 4th, from 2 to 3 p.m. We will gather about 15 minutes earlier on the N.E. corner of that intersection to distribute the necessary signs and give instructions on how to carry out a safe demonstration for LIFE. Please invite your family member, friends and neighbors to join us. Thank you for your support, and if you need more information, or have questions or suggestions, please call our Parish Respect Life Coordinator, Dan Holthouse, at 358-1016.
Soon, in the next few weeks, you will receive reports concerning the financial concerns and future plans for our parish, and the pains we have to work through in these hard economic times that affect so many of us, including the operation of our parish and its school. Recently, at the recommendation of our Parish Finance Council and with the “go-ahead” approval of our Parish Pastoral Council, we began implementing a multipronged program that’s already working to reduce expenses and increase revenue for the operation of our parish plant (church, school and other ministry buildings and grounds). So much of this is based on an appreciation of our role as stewards of God’s gifts to us, and how we can use and share these gifts with others. For instance, members of our St. Vincent de Paul Society Conference that works out of our parish expressed their own gratitude to many of our parishioners who have been helping to serve as members and volunteers in its charitable outreach programs, especially your donations last week to build up a basis for helping the increased numbers of parishioners who are really “down on their luck.” Likewise, the younger members of our family are being asked in a serious manner to show their love for God, His people and their surroundings, and to do what they can to show that support and love of their parish.
While it takes a lot of funding to build buildings, it is very easy to overlook the costs in maintaining them to quality standards. Fortunately, we’ve had an excellent team of workers in our maintenance crew. Unfortunately, the difficult part during these times of economic stress is cutting back in manpower, hours, or programs (or any combination of these), in order to save money for other vital operations. Like so many other organizations, we have begun to do so, evaluating the needs of the parish and, as well as we can, the needs of our employees. This isn’t an easy task! So, we commend a lot more in prayer to Our Lord, and ask Him to give the strength and wisdom we need to do our best in sorting out all factors on the playing field of life.
Our first Fish Fry of the season, brought to us in a partnership by our Knights of Columbus and our parish Youth Ministry, will be held this Friday. Both organizations benefit from any profits realized. With all due respect to our parishioners in the restaurant business, this may be the “best deal in town,” for that day. More information can be found elsewhere in this parish bulletin.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
This coming Saturday, September 5th, is the 1st Saturday of the month, the day each month when faithful pro-life people come to the abortion center on Village Blvd. just above 45th St. to pray for the conversion of hearts – for those contemplating the crime of abortion and those assisting in procuring them. The Rosary begins at 9:00 a.m., and goes for a little over an hour. Some will also stay for the Divine Mercy devotions that follow. During this time, we sometimes are able to witness young, frightened women who receive our prayerful message and counseling and who then make a decision to keep their unborn baby. Some of them will even join us in prayer for their “sisters” to change their hearts, too. It is a safe environment, because police are always present, not to protect us, so much as to assist the cynical protagonists in their murderous work. Your presence is a great witness to respect life in all its stages: from the womb to the tomb. If you cannot travel that far to witness, then please pray for us in our mission there.
Please mark your calendars for our annual "LIFE CHAIN" in support of all human life. We will gather and pray for an hour at the corner of Linton Blvd. and Federal Hwy. in Delray Beach on Sunday, October 4th, from 2 to 3 p.m. We will gather about 15 minutes earlier on the N.E. corner of that intersection to distribute the necessary signs and give instructions on how to carry out a safe demonstration for LIFE. Please invite your family member, friends and neighbors to join us. Thank you for your support, and if you need more information, or have questions or suggestions, please call our Parish Respect Life Coordinator, Dan Holthouse, at 358-1016.
Soon, in the next few weeks, you will receive reports concerning the financial concerns and future plans for our parish, and the pains we have to work through in these hard economic times that affect so many of us, including the operation of our parish and its school. Recently, at the recommendation of our Parish Finance Council and with the “go-ahead” approval of our Parish Pastoral Council, we began implementing a multipronged program that’s already working to reduce expenses and increase revenue for the operation of our parish plant (church, school and other ministry buildings and grounds). So much of this is based on an appreciation of our role as stewards of God’s gifts to us, and how we can use and share these gifts with others. For instance, members of our St. Vincent de Paul Society Conference that works out of our parish expressed their own gratitude to many of our parishioners who have been helping to serve as members and volunteers in its charitable outreach programs, especially your donations last week to build up a basis for helping the increased numbers of parishioners who are really “down on their luck.” Likewise, the younger members of our family are being asked in a serious manner to show their love for God, His people and their surroundings, and to do what they can to show that support and love of their parish.
While it takes a lot of funding to build buildings, it is very easy to overlook the costs in maintaining them to quality standards. Fortunately, we’ve had an excellent team of workers in our maintenance crew. Unfortunately, the difficult part during these times of economic stress is cutting back in manpower, hours, or programs (or any combination of these), in order to save money for other vital operations. Like so many other organizations, we have begun to do so, evaluating the needs of the parish and, as well as we can, the needs of our employees. This isn’t an easy task! So, we commend a lot more in prayer to Our Lord, and ask Him to give the strength and wisdom we need to do our best in sorting out all factors on the playing field of life.
Our first Fish Fry of the season, brought to us in a partnership by our Knights of Columbus and our parish Youth Ministry, will be held this Friday. Both organizations benefit from any profits realized. With all due respect to our parishioners in the restaurant business, this may be the “best deal in town,” for that day. More information can be found elsewhere in this parish bulletin.
Very Rev. Canon Tom