PASTOR'S WEEKLY LETTER

May 11, 2008

Dear Friends:

With the arrival of Mrs. Belinda LeBoeuf as our new Finance Secretary, I hasten to acknowledge the outstanding work of Mr. Bob Palmisano in seeing us through the months we have been without a permanent person in that position.  Many of you know Bob as a long time parishioner.  He has been active on the building committee, the finance council and for five years held the post of parish business manager here.  When he learned of the vacancy we had until being able to find someone, he didn’t hesitate for a minute to bring his experience, knowledge, skill and personality right back to the parish office to get us through.  Far from just filling in, Bob worked long hours to straighten out many things and put us on a more efficient operating basis.  You can barely imagine how grateful I am and we all should be for his generous and hardworking spirit.  Bless you, Bob.

The building committee has now met twice to discuss the design and construction of a new residence for the priests of the parish.  You have all seen where it will be located.  We were fortunate to obtain the floor plans of a successful design for smaller parishes.  The committee members were excited to see the ideas on that plan, but acknowledged that while we like the content, we didn’t care entirely for the arrangement.  In our next meeting we hope to examine those borrowed concepts laid out for a larger capacity house and a more economic construction.

New lighting will be installed in the Ars Chapel beginning in early June.  The entire system will be replaced by a more flexible, coordinated and cost-saving solution.  Six to eight weeks will be required to do the job, so during that time we will move out of the chapel because scaffolding will block its use.  Those planning to be married there will have the use of the church at no additional cost.  Baptisms will also be moved to the church for as long as necessary.

The Men’s club honored Deacon Dale Steffes with the annual Frank Vargo award.  Dale has served thirty-seven years in the parish and has been a great force behind perpetual adoration, vocation promotion, the Knights of Columbus and numerous activities beyond the expected duties of deacons.  Congratulations, Dale.

And, Oh, yes, it’s Mother’s Day.  So our salute goes to all the mothers, grandmothers, step-mothers, mothers-in-law and godmothers.  God be with you as you deal with the challenges of family life and so fulfill your own personal vocations.  You are included each day in our series of masses and in our general intentions throughout the month.  The proceeds from the offerings for Mother’s Day masses go to various charities and to needy individuals.  Thanks for supporting this outreach of our St. John Vianney care.

Happy Mother’s Day and God bless you,

                                
Fr. Morfin

(To e-mail Fr. Morfin, please click here.)