Twilight Twitches

Dear Family,
We are growing closer to our ABCD goal. As of my writing, we have heard from 86 households and have a pledge of $71, 556.78. That’s 60% of the goal. We are getting there. PUUULLLEEESE, if you haven’t filled out a pledge yet, your aging pastor would be very relieved if you did so.

Speaking of aging – or NOT aging as the case may be, one highlight of my past week was renewing the wedding vows of Bill and Joan Fuccillo who celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary. I checked to see if there is a special name for the 69th. That has to wait until next year when Bill and Joan will celebrate 70 years of marriage. I fully expect they will. Then they shall officially be PLATINUM!

Dear Family,
Happy Valentine’s Day!
It took me a minute to find that heart symbol because I’m working on my home computer. A little health hiccup brought me here. Thank God it was nothing more. Thanks also to Msgr. Mike Hippee, and Father Gary as usual, for celebrating Mass.

Maybe having a little more time to think brought me to this next item that troubled me, more than a little. Last Sunday, someone was asked to go the Parish Center because the main sanctuary was full. The gentlemen (?) was heard to say to his companion, “We’re going home. Enough of this bull****.” That’s an odd way to refer to the celebration of the Eucharist. Hopefully, at least that is not what he meant.

Dear Family,
Thank you for your first responses to ABCD. We are already at 28% or $32,970 of our goal of $119,234.63. This number does not include amounts that you sent to the Archdiocese directly. So, we are off to another great year. I hope that doesn’t sound too presumptuous.

For those of you who are visitors, I’m talking about the annual ArchBishop’s Charities and Development appeal. Along with the other 100+ parishes, we pool our resources through ABCD to reach out to do things that individual parishes don’t handle. Again, I’m trying very hard not to presume anything, But,... Thank You!!!

By the way, I’m having many happy chuckles about the 4 of you who added the 63 cents to your pledge. That is a weird goal: $119,234.63

Dear Family,
Our Twitching begins with a pragmatic issue, namely the revelation of termites in our parish center. We will tent the entire complex this week. The tents come on Tuesday morning, February 1, and come off by 5 p.m. on Thursday, February 3.

It will take $13,000+ to remove our little friends from our midst. Who knew termites could be so expensive? I suppose that is better than having the roof collapse on our heads or some more expensive fate. Once the bugs are thoroughly removed, we will be able to patch up the areas they have already affected and you won’t even see a trace of their presence. Of course, there will always be a “warm” memory in my financial heart. I make it sound like it’s my money. Only in part. I know it’s also yours.