Dear parishioners,
We have scheduled our next round of town hall meetings to continue our long-term planning process. We wanted to schedule this round of meetings before the end of the year, as many head south to warm up around that time. The dates for the next meetings are:
- Sunday, December 5 at 12:30 P.M. at the Antwerp Center (light lunch provided)
- Wednesday, December 8 at 7:00 P.M. at the Payne Hall
- Thursday, December 9 at 7 P.M. in the Paulding church basement
If you are able, please sacrifice some time to attend one of these meetings! We have some new information to share with the parish and we want everyone to have a chance to hear it and to have a chance to express their thoughts. As I have already mentioned, the committee and I are looking for as much feedback as we can get so that we can proceed prudently and intentionally in the best interest of the parish as an entire community. Many thanks for your ongoing patience in this process; this process takes time in order to do it well. As before, everyone is welcome to come to any or all of these upcoming town hall meetings.
I am happy announce that we will once again be having our Christmastide Open House at the rectory. I have been informed that we usually schedule this event on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s Day. That being the case, this year’s Open House will take place on Sunday, December 26, immediately following the 10:30 Mass. Please stop over for food and refreshments to celebrate the octave of Our Lord’s Nativity! All are certainly welcome to come!
Next, I would like offer a correction to my bulletin article from a few weeks ago. In it, I provided the updates from the most recent finance council meeting, and mentioned that replacing the tile on the Paulding church roof would cost $2500. This work has been completed and, happily, the cost was only $1250.
Lastly, know of my prayers for a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family! I always think it is worthwhile this time of year to read President Lincoln’s proclamation, declaring Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1864. The whole text is brief; here is the latter half:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.
Lincoln’s words are as fitting today as they were when he delivered them. Of course, he penned them during the strife of the Civil War. Although our country is currently not officially at war, there is certainly much dividing our nation. This Thanksgiving, we not only give thanks for all the good things which God has given us (most especially the sacraments!), but we also pray that Christ grants, as Lincoln said, “a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.”
Blessings to you all!
Fr. Ammanniti
