...authentic judgment is a good thing—it is essential to the health & well-being of an individual and to the well-being of society. In other words: a “truth telling that is honest, clear and direct shines light on things as good and evil, so they appear as what they really are.”
Why is prayer so difficult? A nice night on the town costs money. Vacations cost money. Even watching TV costs money. Prayer is free. Why don’t we indulge? Oh, yeah, I forget, it’s not free; it doesn’t cost money, but it takes time, and in our culture, “time is money.”
Thank you to everyone who supported the mission and ministries of our parish during the month of June. Our average weekly collection was $19,216 (lowest of the year). You also generously donated to various important causes in our June Second Collections in the amount of $19,285. Our parish needs $20,000 a week for us to meet many of our financial responsibilities. We budgeted our Sunday Offertory income for the last 12 months (51 weeks) at $1,020,000 and received $1,076,000. This additional income helps us to pay-down our $2.3 million debt. As you know, we are totally dependent upon you all our parishioners for our livelihood. We are so grateful for the sacrifices you make so that the work of St. Francis of Assisi Parish may continue to impact the lives of so many.
50 years ago, today, July 20, 1969, man landed on the moon. Three astronauts were sent there in the Apollo 11 rocket. Two of them, Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, are names both familiar and famous; however, very few can recall the name of the third: he didn’t walk on the lunar surface; no photographs were taken of him; no words of his were recorded for posterity. No. This third astronaut had to take care of all the mundane work of making sure they were able to return safely to the earth. He was a “Martha”—burdened with much serving.
St. Francis reminds us that we should always “start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Last fiscal year, our parishioners donated $26,804 to our St. Francis Fund Collection. In response to the needs of the many less fortunate in our neighborhood— turning to us, when there is nowhere else to turn, we distributed the funds from this collection as follows: $4,900 in food vouchers; $4,075 to various charities; $2,750 in utility bill assistance; $906 in rental assistance; and $1,963 in feeding the hungry. Thank you for your generosity!