Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of Saint Benedict:

You may have noticed a slight change in the weekly contribution envelopes and in the selections available through Weshare. As the number of diocesan and non-diocesan collections seems to have grown over the past few years, the Finance Council has opted to restructure how we receive and allocate those funds. We have adopted a policy employed by a number of other parishes in our diocese. Here, simply put, is how we are moving forward with second collections.

Throughout the year there are non-diocesan collections: (Latin America, Eastern Europe, Black and Native American Churches, Catholic Relief Services, Holy Land, Catholic Home Missions, Catholic Communication Campaign, Holy Father, Catholic University, World Mission Sunday, Campaign for Human Development, Religious Retirement). Sometimes these occur more than once a month.

We have been taking up those collections separately. Now you will see only four Non Diocesan collections in a year. So, for example, we have an upcoming February 18th non Diocesan collection, whatever monies are collected will be divided equally among the non-diocesan collections that occur during the time frame of January 1st - February 18th. Essentially we will allocate the money collected through equal distribution. If, however, you have a specific preference for how your funds are to be distributed, please indicate this in the Memo section of the check.

The Special Second Collection is collected and put aside to help during a time of natural disaster. In a dire situation we may need to take up a special collection to augment this fund.

Our intention is to reduce the number of second collection envelopes this way, as well as to more evenly distribute the funds that are contributed among the various collections. Hopefully this makes things easier for everyone. It will make our disbursement to the diocese easier and more accurate.

Thank you for your generosity and your patience as we process through this transition.

Next week is Catholic School’s Week. There are many exciting events planned as we celebrate the accomplishments of our students and teachers here at St. Benedict’s School. We hope that those of you with school-aged children will consider a walk through our Open House and that you will consider SBS for the education of your children. We have a good thing going here and I know that things will be getting even better as we move forward!

This coming week Father JM leaves on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with about twenty other priests from our diocese. Let us keep him in our prayers, not only for his safety, but also that he will have a fulfilling and rewarding encounter and experience during this time of pilgrimage and retreat. Godspeed Father JM!

Blessings and peace,
Fr. Garry