PASTOR’S CORNER

Dear Friends,

Occasionally, the Parish has maintenance needs that have been addressed by parishioners through their spirit of Stewardship. Three examples quickly come to mind: those parents who helped rehab the school’s Kindergarten classrooms during the summer of 2008 and the parishioner who cuts the grass around the church, PC and School each week during the 6 months of warm weather. He has been doing this for over 5 years. More recently, the Knights of Columbus have committed to provide the labor and materials for the refurbishing of our Church’s kneelers, which will take place in the spring. I would like to appeal to your spirit of Stewardship and love of St. Aloysius Parish for two new needs:

#1 We are in desperate need of stewards to clean the church. The few remaining “Cleaners” are in their 80’s and can no longer physically care for the Church. We need able-bodied parishioners who are willing to offer one hour of their Time & Talent on Fridays to mop, dust and vacuum the church. Cleaning the Ladies and Men’s restrooms would be included amongst these tasks. The group decides what time on Friday works best for them (either 9:30AM or 12:30PM). Aren’t there parishioners out there, who can share one hour for the sake of their church? I’d make a special appeal to those parents of the Parish School and PREP programs for your help. All that is needed is one hour from your week. Would you share that for all of us?

#2 We need someone with wood working skills. When the Gathering Area is complete, we will have a permanent station where parishioners can conveniently purchase CERTS and Weekly Adventure Tickets. This station will also be built in such a way, that those groups who are promoting a particular activity or fund-raiser can operate from. This will be the only location from which such activities will be allowed. I do not want parishioners to have to walk through a maze every weekend before they enter Church. Our CERTs program has the potential of raising significant amounts of money for the Parish at no cost to the parishioners, if only they would purchase them. Many do not purchase them, because they don’t find it convenient to walk over to the PC or School. This “station” will address that concern. What I envision is a type of business counter, similar to a bank teller’s station, but not as high. It would need drawers for the storage of the forms, etc. I’m not looking for anything complex, but something that is both functional and tasteful. The parish would provide the materials; we just need someone who has the Time and Talent to construct this piece of furniture. As with the kneelers, if someone can share their Time & Talent, they will be saving the parish from spending a significant amount of money in order to address these needs. The earliest that we would need it would be June. This would be a great contribution to the Gathering Area. Is there a Steward out there who can help us?

Your Brother in Christ,

Father Walter J. Benn, Pastor

Parish Support

1/24/10 Sunday Collection – $13,301

Thank you for your generosity!

Second Collection today

is for the Care of Aging and Infirmed Priest of the Philadelphia Archdiocese.