Dear Friends in Christ,
Every day is a joy (mostly) and every day is a blessing (definitely)! Without a doubt, we are truly blessed here at St. John Vianney yet, amid all these blessings, it can be easy for us to lose sight of how much goes on in our parish.
Our parish is blessed with more than 15,000 people! That is the size of many small towns! We are served by two assigned priests, 1 priest in residence, 38 full-time staff, 100+ part-time and seasonal staff, and 6 deacons. SJV has more than 130 groups, organizations, and ministries. We have 12 buildings with more than 70,000 sf of space not counting the church and the chapel. There are 31 classrooms, 17 offices, 10 meeting rooms, 1 resale shop, 1 basketball court, and 2 kitchens. We have 650+ trees and 803 parking spaces with no empty spaces at some of the Sunday Masses!
This Easter we will baptize, and receive into the church, 124 new Catholics in two different ceremonies! We baptize approximately 300 babies a year; nearly 300 children will celebrate their First Communion in May, and, this year, around 100 adults have been prepared for Confirmation along with another 135 youth! Our parish ministers to more than 200 infirm every week. There are more than 600 parishioners involved in our liturgical ministries, more than 1400 children in our Youth Formation program, and over 230 catechists and assistants. On the first Sunday in March 2,652 donuts were consumed and, on the first Friday in Lent, 700 tuna fish sandwiches were eaten! Last year, 100 couples prepared for Holy Matrimony in our parish. We also have about 90 funerals a year.
Our parish assists thousands each year through our Social Services Ministries. Last year, 23 churches received 3,000 Christmas gifts from Gift Giving Sunday. This Spring, SJV will build our 10th home for Habitat for Humanity. Countless hours are offered to the Lord in prayer in our Adoration Chapel and this June, a young man from our parish will be ordained to the priesthood; the 9th within 18 years.
None of this “just happens”. It takes a lot of organization, many dedicated people with generous hearts. Our size is both a blessing and a challenge. St. John Vianney parish is not like the parish in “Going My Way” or the “Bells of St. Mary’s”. Because it is easy to get lost in the crowd and feel anonymous, we are continually striving to make our parish “feel smaller”. There is a formula but it isn’t magic. It takes desire, effort, and determination. The formula is this – the way to make our parish feel smaller is for people to become engaged and connect with other parishioners! The more connected one is to other parishioners, the stronger the sense of belonging and the smaller the parish feels. That’s it. The parish remains big and it still requires a lot of organization, but our perspective changes and our commitment and joy increase.