Like all of you, I am delighted that Deacon Ted Weise is back with us after his spiritual sabbatical. He has returned just in time to participate in a certain reorganization in our parish. One small part of that, but which affects everyone is that I have asked Deacon Ted to share with me some of the "emergency ministry." He now has a beeper like this (show beeper) and will be helping me respond to emergency situations which come up in our parish.
This is a little sign of taking seriously Jesus' command to be shepherds to his flock. That is something I would like to talk to you about this weekend and to ask your help. In a few minutes we will be watching a video by our chief shepherd in Western Washington, Archbishop Murphy. I found it deeply moving and I think you will as well.
Before watching the video I would like to show you something I am very proud of. Because of our high percentage of parishioner participation we received this plaque. It says "Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy Presents the Annual Catholic Appeal Outstanding Achievement Award to the Holy Family Parish Community" and it mentions the names of Fr Gerard Clenaghan and myself. It is a beautiful tribute to Fr. Clenaghan and of course to you. Last year just over 600 parishioners participated in the Annual Appeal and we raised about $47,000. About $8,000 of that amount was rebated to our parish and we used that money to repair our stain glass windows.
Archbishop Murphy has asked Holy Family this year to contribute $42,000 to the Archdiocese. Beyond that our parish finance committee has suggested we raise an additional $18,000 for some needs right here. The total goal for our parish be $60,000. That goal perhaps seems ambitious, but I have a lot of confidence in Holy Family parishioners. If we make that goal we will not only be able to do our part for the Archdiocese but to 1) repair the chimes in our bell tower and 2) improve the P.A. system in our church.
Next Sunday Fr. Peterson and a layman from our parish will explain more about the Annual Catholic Appeal. For now I would like to ask you to give your full attention to this nine minute video presentation by our chief shepherd, Archbishop Murphy.
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