The very latest from our parish pastoral council:
Parish Council Minutes
February 12, 2022
Attendees: Gladys Acevedo, Kathy Champignon, Irene Gyori, Msgr. Kerrigan, Nolberto Lan, Jacek Malik, Deacon Gary, Ana Valencia, Gerry Yuknis
Finance
The Commemorative Pavers as a fund raiser are going well. We currently have orders for 41 pavers. We will continue to take orders into next week. With those orders the current pavers can be installed. After that we will continue to take orders but hold onto them until we have enough to afford having them put in. The walkway cost $7,000. We have already paid for half of the job.
We reviewed the financial statement, and we are currently running at a deficit. We need to cut expenses and increase revenue. We are looking to move the Parish office to the church. We will be looking to sell the rectory and sell or lease the annex building and garage. If we could build a Columbarium in the cemetery, we could have revenue coming from it. We need the OK from the Diocese to build it. We are open to any kind of ideas to bring more revenue into the parish. Once our Year of St. Joseph ends next May, we will begin a campaign for the 150th anniversary of the parish. The Parish Council will be a core part of the 150th Anniversary Action Team.
Family Faith Formation
We had a good start on Sunday, January 23. We now have over 110 families signed up for one of 4 sessions. The program runs 12 months a year. The program is based on a 7-year cycle with a different theme each year. The theme for this year is prayer. The goal is to change how the parents are engaged in the parish. Msgr and Deacon Gary noticed the 8:00 Mass after the week after all the sessions seemed to have more families in attendance. We hope that is a consequence of FFF. We have received very positive reactions from the families. Nolberto shared that he has gotten very positive feedback from families he has spoken to. In particular, he has heard from many fathers that they believe this program will help them to take better care of their children. He believes this can make a huge difference in the Community. For February, Valeria Morales will be working with the parents on stresses that keep us from prayer. The hope is that parents will be able to relate on a personal level about their feelings and experiences. In future months, we look forward to Nolberto and Deacon Gary speaking at some sessions. We will be taking new families into the program whenever they move into the parish or reach out to us to join.
Upcoming Events
Lent is around the corner. Things going on in the evenings in the church lend themselves to Lenten practices. What about Stations of the Cross? Ash Wednesday is March 2. There will be 4 Masses, 7:00AM, 8:30AM, Noon and 7:00PM. We have CRS Rice Bowls for personal/families for donations. We can mention it at February Family Faith Formation.
Bishop’s Appeal in the parish will be presented by Gabby, Luz Helena and Deacon Gustavo.
Feasts of St. Joseph – March 19 and May 1.
For the feast day of St. Joseph in March we will have activities Friday and Saturday. Friday vigil, 6:00 PM Mass and at 7:00 PM we will have a 1-man play, “Merton and Me” in the church.
Saturday the plan is to have a 10:00 AM Bilingual Mass. Fr. Charlie O’Connor, former pastor, will join us to celebrate Mass. The plan will be to have a brunch afterwards. We hope to get food donations for the brunch. Perhaps we could put up flyers in the church letting people know about it.
May 1 – Feast of St. Joseph the Worker will close our Year of St. Joseph. There will be a special 6:00 PM Mass. The over 20 parishioners that have been working towards consecration to St. Joseph will be wearing special “worker” outfits. We have adults and children being consecrated.
Easter is late this year, April 17. Perhaps we could have the Sunrise Mass in the cemetery earlier than we did last year.
Next meeting Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 8:30 via Zoom.
Kathy Champignon