Dear parishioners,
In last weekend’s bulletin, I answered some questions regarding the capital campaign. Now that the parish-wide mailer has been sent and delivered, I have heard a handful of people asking another question. This question pertains to why pledges/donations are sent to an address in Connecticut. While setting up the Bishop’s campaign, the leadership team at the diocesan Pastoral Center recognized that the administrative work entailed in overseeing and processing pledge payments for every single parish in the diocese would be too extensive for them to be able to manage, especially given that this would have been in addition to their usual daily responsibilities. Therefore, the diocese contracted with a third-party company based in Connecticut to process all pledges, payments, and reminder communications for every donor in every parish across the diocese. Because our campaign is a joint campaign with the Diocese of Toledo, we have to follow the process set up by the diocese for processing pledges and donations.
Next, I would like to address confusion that has come about because of what was recently posted online about Divine Mercy School receiving grant money for safety purposes. We were very blessed to be awarded this grant money from the State of Ohio, but, as is the case with every grant, there are very specific restrictions on what this money can be used to purchase. In this particular case, the money must be utilized for the improvement of safety technology in or on the school building. Some in our parish have taken this to mean that we no longer need to raise money in our capital campaign for the school. However, I would like to dispel this rumor because the funds received through this Ohio Safety Grant will not cover the majority of the projects we are hoping to accomplish at this time. Also, kindly know that we cannot keep any unused funds from this grant!
As I mentioned at last weekend’s Masses, we will not be having our annual rectory open house this year. We usually schedule this event for the Sunday after Christmas, but because this year the Sunday after Christmas is New Year’s Day, we figured many parishioners will be away or having family gatherings. However, we will be able to still have a little fun for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. At all of our weekend Masses on December 31 and January 1, I will be doing a blessing of wine. That’s right- bring a bottle or two of wine to be blessed at the end of the Masses! The best way to make this happen is to bring your wine in a bag or a basket with your name on it, place it near the St. Joseph altar in Payne before the 4:00 Mass, or by the baptismal font in Paulding before the 8:30 or 10:30 Mass. Then, you can collect your wine after Mass concludes.
Blessings to you all as we prepare to celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord next weekend!
Fr. Ammanniti
