Can you believe that it is the end of January already? I really doesn’t seem possible. How are you doing on those resolutions for the New Year. I hope that all of you have thought about making this a year of renewal of faith and relationship with the Lord. It would be great to also think about trying to bring back somebody that you know who has left the church or who doesn’t actively participate in the church anymore. These people are your neighbors and friends. If you like what is going on here at Our Lady of Hope you need to share that information with those who aren’t coming. We will welcome them back with open arms and hearts.
The parish stewardship reports are now available. In an attempt to save a substantial amount of money we have decided not to mail them out . They are in the Narthex of the church and we hope that all of you will take one and read it. It is a fine report and if you have any questions about them please don’t hesitate to ask. I will try and answer all of your inquiries. I hope that you have had a chance to look at the pictures of the proposed changes to the kitchen. I am very pleased with the plans and I hope that you are too. Please feel free to ask questions about the kitchen but from what I can see it is a plan that will be functional and something that we can be proud of.
I am happy to give all of you a final medical report. According to the physicians and nurses all of the procedures have worked and I am restored to being stone and tube free. I am sorry to have bored you with these reports but I wanted to be able to thank all of you for your continued prayers and support. Your prayers have helped and all is well.
Next week is the Super Bowl Party. I hope that you have purchased your tickets although you can buy them at the door it would be better if you could get them in advance to allow the committee to better know how much food and refreshments they are going to need. A great deal of planning has gone into this party and any monies that are produced for this party will go towards the needed repairs in the Schwab Center and the remodeling of the kitchen.
Please take a close look inside the stewardship report and you will find all the upcoming dates and activities that will be available here at Our Lady of Hope during the Lenten Season. I especially would like to draw your attention to the presentations of Father Barron’s Catholicism series. We will be airing it three times each week to give as many parishioners as possible the ability to take advantage of this marvelous experience. I have seen four of these discs and I was blown away. They are beautifully photographed and informative. They are in themselves a prayerful experience of what church can and should be. I strongly encourage all of you to pick out times that you can witness these CD’s. I am sure that they will make Lent a better time for all who view them.
We had a great Parish Council meeting this past week. We began work on setting goals for the next five years here at Our Lady of Hope. You will be hearing more about what we are looking at in the future, We have just begun the process. If you have ideas that you would like to enter into the hopper, please get them to me or attend the next Parish Council meeting in February where we will continue to work on this planning project.
Have a great week. Know that you are loved and live that love.
Fr. Clem