Of many things…
As promised, thanks to Patrick Garrett, the year end fiscal report is up on the parish website. If you want to view it, go to:
www.stannchurch-stl.org/2009-10-parish-year-end-report/
Thanks once again for your faithful and amazing stewardship. Your contributions, big and small, help us to create this corner of God’s kingdom, right here in Normandy, Missouri.
I feel a bit like the boy who cried wolf too often, asking for your generosity and aid again and again. We had the seminary appeal. And the Annual Catholic Appeal. Followed by the Pay It Forward Appeal. And finally, in a few weeks, our annual Visitation Appeal which helps with the operational expenses of the parish. Each of these appeals makes a concrete difference in the lives of those who are served by our gifts. Each appeal gives us another opportunity to put our faith into action.
Archbishop Carlson put it so well in his remarks about Stewardship: “The purpose of stewardship is not to tell God all the things that we want God to do, but rather to ask God what He wants us to do and then be quiet enough to hear the answer in our hearts. And THEN to let our prayer lead to action.” Thank you for the ways you have been such good stewards of the gifts God has given to you…
What an amazing fall for weather this year. I don’t remember so many dry and warm days strung together in a long time. That has been great for my exercising and for the second annual “Walktober Challenge.” The results are in for this year. And though St. Ann school did not take the trophy this year in the challenge, the Priests in the Northwest Deanery (that would be our deanery) did come in first with an average of 2654 minutes of intentional activity during the month. The first place trophy in the Priests Category went to the former pastor of St. Ann Parish – Fr. Jim Edwards, with 4739 minutes, an average of 2 ½ hours a day. Yours truly came in 5th, averaging 1 ½ hours a day. (Of course, the majority of those minutes came while chasing a small, white round ball through some nicely cut fairways.) Our school kids came in ranked 6th out of the 25 teams – averaging an hour and 7 minutes a day.
Thanks be to God for the gift of bodies that work and glorious days in which to enjoy them…