Dear Friends,
I want to express my deepest appreciation to each of you for enabling our parish reach theTOP TEN PARISHES LIST in the Diocese of Orlando. Congratulations are in place for what you have achieved. For a young parish like ours to reach that status is no small matter. You should each feel proud of your feat. And all this is because of your GENEROSITY.
St. John the Evangelist has fulfilled all of three criteria for making the list in the OUR CATHOLIC APPEAL (OCA) 2018. The first one being Top Ten Parishes by percentage of participation to # of registered parishioners and the other two are Top Ten Parishes by % of goal and Top Ten Parishes by $’s Raised. We belong to a great Diocese, 50 years old, which reaches out to so many people taking the message of the Gospel to different corners of not only the Diocese but globally too. Orlando Diocese took the first place for being the most transparent Diocese in the country.
Gifts to OCA are the sole source of funding for 27 ministries that benefit every parish, mission and school in our diocese. In addition, OCA gifts provide critical support for outreach programs such as Catholic Charities of Central Florida, Hope CommUnity Center, and our schools in the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana in the Dominican Republic. In many ways, OCA is similar to a parish offertory, which covers routine expenses and allows the parish to carry out the day to day work of the Gospel. In the same way, OCA strengthens our entire local Church by helping to sustain our diocesan ministries.
Through OCA, our diocese is able to address the spiritual, educational, and humanitarian needs of our nine counties in ways that no parish could accomplish alone. In this way, OCA provides parish leaders with an opportunity to talk about the connectedness of our Church. Every time that we say the Creed, we reaffirm the fact that we are members of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Each of us is responsible not only for his or her parish, but also for the well-being of the Church throughout our diocese and the world.
Even though we made the list in the top ten positions, there is much more we can do. The participation level was only 46.2%. We can definitely do more. Why can’t we all participate? So I am counting on every one of you to participate this year.
This weekend is the most important weekend to show your love of our parish and the diocese. I am appealing to all of you to pitch in your mite by generously showing your support. When a gift comes from your heart, no matter the size, it will yield blessings for those in need.
Today we celebrate the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time and the first reading from the Book of Jeremiah has a beautiful message for us. He says: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its rootsto the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes; its leaves stay green; in the year ofdrought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.” (17:7-8).
Reflecting on the Gospel of St. Luke given to us on this Sunday, our bishop John Noonan says: Today “we hear Jesus pray the Beatitudes. Jesus teaches us to trust in God; that as He prays, they are called blessed. He also teaches us to be as God calls us to be; to return to God whatGod has given to us. So, the prayer asks us to be as God the Father gave us in the example of His son, Jesus. The ministries supported by Our Catholic Appeal are our Beatitudes of prayer. I pray with you for our success during 2019-20. May our gifts from God for God be abundantly offered that we will see Him face to face.”
Blessed are you! Blessed is our parish because of you! Blessed is our Diocese because of you. You are blessed because you truly place your hope in the Lord. You are like the trees planted beside the waters. Blessed are you!
Have a Blessed Week!
With love, Fr. John