State of the Parish Address: On Wednesday, January 25, I gave the State of the Parish address. More than 100 people attended. The following is a summary of what I discussed. In the introduction I discussed the fact that over the last ten years or so we have lost nearly 25 percent of our parishioners based on the October count (ushers count the number of people in the pews during this month). This is a diocesan-wide problem and a wider Church problem. But there have been some positive signs for us. Instead of declining, our attendance has risen the last couple of years. So has the school enrollment. I expect school enrollment to continue to increase. Financially, we are stable. Then I discussed what the priority areas are as a parish: the poor, evangelization, marriages and vocations. Of course, our youth are incorporated into each area. I also discussed the importance of Sunday. And then I discussed the Witness to Hope campaign. I discussed how we have made some modifications to the renovation of the Church. I also discussed the plans for the outside of the Church. We hope to start making changes on the outside this summer and next year begin the renovation to the church—God willing. All in all, the meeting seemed to be well received. In a nutshell, the campus and Church will be really beautiful if all goes as planned.
Click here to watch the presentation.
Witness to Hope Campaign: We are inching toward our four million dollar goal. We sent letters to everyone who didn’t give as of yet, hoping that they have an opportunity to contribute to our parish. Please continue to pray for the campaign.
Year-End Statements: Been busy this past week signing all the year-end statements, so much so that my hand is a little sore. Thank you for your generous giving to our parish. Once again I thought of the many, many places that we can be charitable too. There are so many options. Thanks for choosing Holy Family Parish!
Immigration and Refugees: Many people are in an up-roar over new policies from our government leaders. Hopefully charity, prudence and peace will prevail on all sides.
Catholic Schools Week: We had a nice turnout at our Catholic Schools Week open house last weekend. We are encouraged by the interest in our school as enrollment has gone up the last two years. Additionally, I received so many nice comments about our students who read at Mass and gave witness talks afterward.
Fireside Chat: We had a nice evening at our Fireside Chat on January 26. In years past we only had priests on the panel answering questions from the assembly, but this year we added religious sisters. Our own Sr. Sharon joined St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center staff Sr. Judy Blake and Sr. Carol Weber. They were great additions! Fr. Phil Schmitter from Christ the King in Flint attended as well. It was a fun event.
Parish Mission: Please don’t forget to invite someone to our parish mission with Butch Murphy on February 13 – 15. And men, please don’t forget the diocesan-wide men’s conference on Feb. 25 at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Michigan Center.
Vacation: I’ll be gone this weekend visiting a priest friend in Savannah, Georgia. I’m sure we will watch the Super Bowl because he’s a big Atlanta Falcons fan.
Have a blessed week walking with our Lord.
In Christ’s love and peace,
Msgr. Jerry
Saint of the week: “Like my Master, I shall die upon the cross. Like him, a lance will pierce my heart so that my blood and my love can flow out upon the land and sanctify it to his name.” Words of St. Paul Miki, whose feast day is February 6. He was martyred in Japan in 1587 by orders of the emperor who wanted to banish Christianity. He, along with 26 others, were tied to crosses with their necks held in place by iron rings. An executioner killed each of them by the spear.