A Letter From Our Pastor: In Difficult Times, We Express Gratitude Through Time, Talent and Treasure

My Dear Friends in Christ,

Fewer and fewer of us today lived through the days of World War II. For most of us then, this past year for our nation has been the most challenging year we can remember in our lifetimes. None of us dreamed of a time like this where our lives would be so impacted and changed due to an “invisible” force at work through this COVID-19 pandemic. Then, add to this the emotionally charged election season with its unprecedented divisiveness, and we have the perfect storm.

I want to assure you that I am praying for all of you. We remember the storm that the Apostles found themselves in when they were in the boat in the Sea of Galilee. It was then that they noticed someone like a “ghost,” who was Jesus, walking on the water. Jesus called out to them and invited Peter to get out of the boat and walk to Him. As long as Peter kept his focus and trust in Jesus, Jesus enabled Peter to do what no human being can do — which is walk on water. As soon as Peter took his focus off Jesus and put it on the storm, Peter sunk. Jesus invites us to keep our focus and trust in Him. He will enable us to do what we can’t do ourselves to get through this pandemic. This storm too shall pass as it did for the Apostles.

In light of this difficult year, you all have stood up to the challenge. You have been faithful. One small measure of that is the financial giving this past year. I wanted to be sure at some point to give you the end-of-year financial reports for the 2019-20 fiscal year that ended July 1. It shows that despite last year’s challenges, you all rose to the occasion! We didn’t make budget with any of our parishes last year, but we can’t forget that for months people weren’t even physically in the churches. Also, we had to forgo some of our largest parish festivals and other fundraising events. With Our Lady of Lourdes, we endured a complete rainout on Sunday of the OLOL Bazaar in the summer of 2019, an expense of $60,000 to replace the boiler of MOL Middle School, and new carpeting of the entire upper level of the church. Overall, our parish finance committees and I feel we did well in our three parishes, all things considered.

Thank you so much for your generosity! We acknowledge that we are greatly blessed by God in our community and we’ve taken time to express that gratitude to God with our time, talent, and treasure.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Ben Kociemba, Pastor

Fr. Ben Kociemba, Pastor