Archbishop Rozanski asked us to take up a collection for the victims of the recent hurricanes, so we’ll be doing that at all Masses this weekend. He also suggested that I share with you this quote from a statement he and the other bishops of Missouri made about Amendment 3:
“The legalization and deregulation of abortion would represent a tragic step backward in our work to protect all human life at all stages. For these reasons, we urge Catholics and all persons of good will to oppose Amendment 3.”
Theresa Flores, who has been a wonderful help to our music program, has obtained a new position as the Director of Music and Liturgy at Immaculate Conception Church in Columbia, Illinois. The position is a great fit for her musical gifts and her passion for the Catholic faith. God bless you in this new role, Theresa! I’m grateful to Theresa for her excellent service at SSP, and for giving me advance notice that this transition might be coming. Fr. Steve at Immaculate Conception wanted her to start immediately, which will bring us some quick transitions.
One transition that you’ll see this week is that we’ve temporarily paused production of our worship aids; Theresa had been doing this task for us. I think worship aids are important for our church because they help new people pray with us. We’re running a focus group to study how we use worship aids, and I’d love to have your input, too, using this survey.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to all of our tithing parishioners and everyone on the path towards tithing. Thanks to you, we are able to pay for some major repairs and improvements at our three campuses: a new water main for the church and hall at SJB, a new AC unit in the Father Keaney Center at IHM, and a new parking lot at SSP. Thanks also to everyone who helped with our Golf Tournament, which assisted in paying for the parking lot, and to the Archdiocese, who pledged grants for the parking lot and AC unit. I hope to continue to handle repairs and improvements by paying for them from our accumulated operating surplus, without special appeals for extra donations. All of that is only possible because of our faithful parishioners walking the path of tithing! If you’d like to learn more about our parish’s finances, plan on attending our annual business meeting at 11:30 am in the Father Keaney Center on Sunday, November 24, 2024. God bless you!