To give a little nuance to my post-retreat message last weekend: I alone cannot do it! It’s not to say that I lack a healthy self-knowledge or confidence in becoming Pastor here at Holy Family. I know that the Lord has blessed me immensely and I have been given many gifts which He has used and will use. But it is to say that it is ultimately His parish and His plan, and the strength that I have to do anything will come from Him. Undoubtedly, the Lord will help me too through all of you, as he already greatly has! Providentially, I write these words on Tuesday, the Solemnity of the Birth of St John the Baptist who said that “He must increase, and I must decrease.”
Speaking of gifts, realities beyond my doing I want to say that I am proud that our parish has been very generous in two big ways! First, we raised most of our Catholic Charities appeal at $72k!!! Our support of the efforts of our Diocese is incredible! Secondly, we did bring in just under $70k for the Angel Scholarship Fund this year! This Fund is supplied by directing your tax liability to our school rather than the State. Thank you to all who helped support our school in such a simple and easy, yet powerful way!
Another great gift would be in even more volunteer sign-ups for our Celebration Weekend coming up! While we don’t need quite as many as in the past, we still are in need! One new and needed position would be in sitting out and selling tickets at a Raffle Tent on a Friday or Saturday near the new car on York Rd. The purpose of the tent would be to not just sell tickets, to those passing by or stopping to fill up at the gas station, but to also say hello to people, make connections, and invite them to our Celebration weekend. Again, this is not just an invitation to an event, but an invitation into our community and all we have been blessed with! If you have any questions about this volunteering position, please contact the office.
Lastly, we know the great gift we have in our country as we celebrate this week (Already!!!) the 4th of July. A reminder from St Pope John Paul II, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
