February 12th

Dear Friends,
By now, all parishioners should have received in the mail information about the Annual Catholic Appeal. Funds collected in this appeal go towards supporting important ministries and outreach in the Archdiocese and beyond. Each parish has a quota, and ours is about $21,000. I am happy to say that during my time here we have achieved our quota each year, through the generosity of parishioners like those of you reading this. While many parishes engage in a multi-week blitz to push this Appeal, I have found that gentle reminders, along with taking part in the Commitment Weekend when we hear from the Cardinal and fill out envelopes in the pews, does the trick. This would normally be the weekend for this- but since I am on vacation, we’ll do it next week. I have already sent in my donation, as perhaps have many in our parish. The Commitment Weekend is a chance for all of us to mark that event and to join our efforts with those of all of the 260 or so parishes in our Archdiocese.
At last month’s Parish Council we discussed the most recent estimate for elevator access to Nativity of Our Lord church. The original proposal was for an exterior addition on the northeast corner of the church, which would house the elevator. The cost for this was excessive, so we pursued another approach that we were told would require a more modest outlay. Unfortunately, the estimate for this was also north of $800,000. While I think our parish could, if necessary, raise $1 million for necessary capital improvements, putting so much into church accessibility is simply not the right decision for us right now. Some members of the Parish Council are forming a small subcommittee to look for less costly ways to improve accessibility for this church. It breaks my heart knowing that there are some who cannot make it up those 23 stairs. I truly hope we can find a solution.
ALPHA enrollment continues! See information in the bulletin and on the website for this series of dinner/video/discussion evenings that will be starting up on March 1st.




May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
we experienced at Mass today!