Amazing. Simply Amazing…
With one bill outstanding from the Sponsor’s Dinner Dance (from the credit card machine – and we are not sure of the percentage they will take off of those sales…) it appears to be safe to say that we raised at least $65,000 and most likely even more. Wow!
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You have always been so amazingly generous in support of this parish and our school and our teachers. In a parish founded on the generosity and faith of one woman, Anne Lucas Hunt, it is edifying to see that her Charism of giving still thrives in this community. It is in our genes to ‘pay it forward.’ I am sure that Anne could only vaguely imagine what her gift might look like 160 years later. But it was worth it to her to give generously from the heart for people she would never see.
In some ways, like Anne, we have no idea the impact of our parish and school on future generations of the church and world, but we trust that God will never be outdone in generosity. Like St. Paul, we are only responsible for sowing the seeds. The harvest is in God’s hands.
So am I surprised? Not really. It is what you do so often and so well for all these years. Am I amazed and grateful? Very much so! The hard work of the committee and the generosity of so many (a huge word of thanks to all those at Table 3!!) are just more reasons why I love the gift of being assigned as Pastor here at St. Ann’s.
Thanks to Kay Dieckmann and Cheri Smith, our co-chairs for the event once more. Thanks to their sometimes ‘orphaned’ husband and families for the hours they spent working to pull everything together. Thanks to all our generous sponsors. Thanks to the Men’s club for donating the receipts from the bar. Thanks to Kathy Dolson for setting up our electronic spreadsheets and projectors so people could see where they were in the bidding wars. Thanks to Jennifer Bahan for coordinating the decorations, and to Favazza Florists for donating the center pieces. Thanks to Tom Kielly, Jr. and The Liquor Doctor for contributing the wine for the dinner once again. Thanks to “The Z-man” and the volunteers who did the floors. Thanks to Pat and Eileen, our office staff, who coordinated all the comings and goings here at the rectory. And finally, to all who had any part in this wonderful day, a simple yet woefully inadequate “THANK YOU” from the bottom of this pastor’s heart and from the next generation of students, faculty and staff who are the beneficiaries of your faith and love…