Beneficiaries of Generosity

05-17-2015Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

Many of you considered, and maybe even contributed, to the recent United States Postal Service Food Drive. You will be interested to know that our parish cluster benefits most directly from local generosity. The donations given through the Fountain City Post Office are given directly to the Food Pantry located in the Parish Life Center at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. A reminder that the Immaculate Conception Food Pantry is open weekly on Thursdays from 4 until 5 in the afternoon. Typically 2-6 different households visit each week to benefit from the Food Pantry. The Immaculate Conception Food Pantry is supported solely by local donations and food drives. And, a quick distinction, our parish cluster also hosts a monthly Mobile Food Pantry on the first Tuesday of each month. The 45-65 households who benefit from the Mobile Food Pantry receive food from Feed My People Food Bank in Eau Claire. Now, back to the USPS Food Drive: a quick estimate of the weight of the food donated to our local food pantry is right around 1,900 pounds of food. All of that food was donated to our local Food Pantry. Thanks to the residents in the Fountain City for their generosity to help end hunger.

Speaking of Generosity…
The projections for our fiscal well-being at each parish seems reasonably sound; thanks to your contributions. In a particular way, you may have noticed an envelope in your recent packet labeled Energy Needs. For information sake, we have included these envelopes twice during the calendar year in hopes to help offset energy expenses including fuel and electricity for both for the heating season and cooling season. Your voluntary contributions will be used directly for Energy Needs at your local parish.

Spiritually Speaking
While we observe the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven today, we also look forward to the descent of the Holy Spirit as we celebrate Pentecost next weekend. A local custom which has become a bit contagious is to wear red and/or fire colors to Mass next weekend to help decorate the church with our seasonable colors. The more we are mindful of our attire next weekend, the brighter our church will become with our fire colors. And, since the Holy Spirit has come to each of us, and continues to do so, we want to honor the Holy Spirit by demonstrating on the outside what is going on within. These fire colors help other see that we are on fire with the Holy Spirit and have a desire to share the Spirit's gi ft with others.

Strategic Planning
Perhaps I already conveyed information about the Administrative Team, Council Members and Parents of Saint Boniface Catholic Church and School who spent weeks formulating and approving a Strategic Plan for the recent, and hopefully long-term, fiscal stability for Saint Boniface Catholic Church and School. The plan calls for compromises from parish members, families who benefit from the school, and community members which will invite people to make some sacrifices as well as receive benefit from those compromises. Each of us needs to be mindful of the value of having a Catholic school within our parish cluster. Many of us honestly admit there is less and less room for religion in the modern age which makes the intentional work of evangelization so important in Catholic schools. Consider that the current students may some day be active members in your parish, they may be future local politicians, they may be future neighbors, they may be future co-workers of you and your children. Whatever we do materially or spiritually to support the work of Catholic education will prove beneficial to us all.

BACK TO LIST