St. John Neumann
Catholic Church

What are you thankful for today? Sunday, 25 November 2007 You’ll notice that each of the Masses will be a bit less crowded this weekend. My brother pastors are always a bit nervous about this weekend’s numbers, and the dipping totals of their collections! For many citizens of our country, the Thanksgiving Day holidays have taken on something of the feel and weight of holy days. This was and is true for my family. My heart is filled with memories of Thanksgiving Days gone by, of family and food and football, of parades and fruit pies. Relatives would congregate at our family home. The children would play outside (and not inside, with one of those Play-Station games). The cousins tried not to kill each other at whatever game was being played. The teens would try and act comfortable with all the added company. The adult children would ready everything, and the elders would sit back and supervise. Then, after everyone commented on how good everything was, most of us sat at the table and talked, remembering all that made us a family. Did you experience anything like this in your growing up years? Do any of you experience this today? Whether the long weekend that started with Thanksgiving Day was a tradition in your family or not, this focus on Thanksgiving does offer every disciple of the Lord Jesus an opportunity. As most of you remember, the Greek word that is reckoned as “eucharist” is what we Roman Catholics know as Holy Communion. In fact, another word that describes the Sacrifice of the Mass is Eucharist… thanksgiving. What are you thankful for today? For me, I am thankful for being a member of this parish family. I am thankful for the way many of you have shown me such kindness. What should we, as a parish family, be thankful for? For one thing, this: After years of thinking about what we should do, we are committing ourselves to a renewed and robust plan of action: to raise the funds necessary in building what we want & need. This Building a Legacy of Faith is the name of our renewed and reinvigorated project: building, according to the plan and purpose of God; a legacy, what we hope to leave for those that will follow us as they begin to live the life of the people of God; of faith, we walk by faith in this, and will trust that the Lord God will take care of us…as we do this in celebration of the Lord. *** We are in need of some specific assistance. Please read this invitation again, and respond as you are able: (1) I need to develop a team of cooks that will assist on occasion with gatherings at the rectory. Our Advent Penance Service (17 December) would be an example. Priests from our Deanery will be at the rectory, and I hope to offer them a simple supper before the 7 pm Penance Service. Please call me or write me if you might be willing to join this team ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). I need to hear from a few of you right away. (2) Our Receptionist Ministry (the volunteers that work in our parish office Monday -Friday) is in need of a few more good men and women. Please call Eleanor Marshall (770-978- 0269) and let her know of your desire to assist me and us in the office. We need morning and afternoon helpers! (3) Our team of Sacristans would like to see another member or two. These Sacristans take care of the Sacristies of SJN and assist the priests and deacons mightily! Please call Bill Marten at the parish office to see about how you might assist the Sacristans. We need your help. Please remember that it is the Lord who invites each of us to get involved with His mission of saving us. We are to be partners in the work of God taking place at SJN. AMDG Msgr. David   < Prev   Next > [ Back ]