God is Never Outdone in Generosity!’

07-25-2021From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. John J. Barbella

I want to thank everyone for their generosity to last week’s Mission Co–op Collection. As usually, the good people of our parish were welcoming and supportive of the missionary who visited us. Fr. Cesar wanted me to express his thanks to all of you, not only for your donations but, most especially for your prayers.

You can see the results of the mission elsewhere in this bulletin, where the weekly collection is listed. Your generosity is a testimony to your embrace of Jesus’ command to ‘teach all nations.’ Thanks!

Speaking of second collections, I am happy to tell you that one such collection has come back to bless our parish in a very concrete way. You may recall that, a few years ago, what used to be called the Campaign for Human Development was changed to Campaign for the Works of Mercy. At the time, I explained that this was done by our bishop as a way to better track the donations to that collection and use them to support more charitable needs in our own diocese.

I am happy to report that our parish received a $7,500 grant from the Works of Mercy Collection. The money is to be used to support our Food for the Needy program and Soup Kitchen. I don’t have to tell you this money will do a lot to help our parish help local families in need.

It is also nice to see how your generosity to the Works of Mercy Collection and Together in Charity has become a blessing to our local Church and community! Other examples of this have been your support of the Foundation for Catholic Education, which provides tuition assistance to several students in our parish school, and the Collection, which has provided emergency assistance to several parish families.

St. Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Jesuit order in the 1500’s, said ‘God is never outdone in generosity!’ Quoting him, Pope Francis recently said that ‘God is never outdone in generosity, and still uses you and me to help many other people.’ Your support of the missions and these special collections, and the good that flows from that generosity, truly proves that point.

Fr. Gilbert will celebrate his first anniversary as a priest on Sunday, August 22nd. He will celebrate the 11 AM Mass that day in thanksgiving to God for the gift of his priesthood. Everyone is welcome to join him.

After the Mass that day, we will have light refreshments in Mercy Hall, something we haven’t done too often since the pandemic! Everyone is likewise invited to stop by for some fellowship that day. It will be a nice celebration of the gift of the priesthood and the blessings that come to our parish through that gift.

As always, I ask you to pray a Hail Mary for me today and every day. Be assured of my prayers for you. While we’re at it, let’s pray for Fr. Cesar and his missionary work, for the sick, and for peace.

Have a great week!
Fr. John

P.S. Are your children registered for CCD (Religious Education) yet?

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