Dear Folks,

Soooo much going on, and so much of it is a testament to the goodness and generosity of St. Mary IC parishioners!

We made our Bishop’s Lenten Appeal (BLA) goal with $495k pledged! Yowza! 1,163 families pledged that much, which is 18% of the official number of 6344 parish families. Yes, we would always like to see the percentage of families pledging be closer to 28% (that is the diocesan participation goal), but we also know that some families are still sending in gifts and commitments to the BLA! Thank you, and there is a nice note from the bishop in the bulletin this week.

Also, there is a nice note from the parish in Togo where we recently sent a donation to help them rebuild their church! The parish is known to us because it is the home parish of Late Drackey who works here at St. Mary’s. Your generosity arrived to them in a time of great need for their church reconstruction.

The fundraiser for youth mission trip to the Dominican Republic? That brought in over $20k. The “Love Your Neighbor“ collection for Micah, that brought in almost $8k. Then 240 Easter baskets which was twice the number we had hoped for.

All this, and our capital campaign still humming along! In the midst of a recession when prices for food, household items —-everything is THROUGH THE ROOF – the generosity of so many and trustful surrender to God is beautiful to witness and inspiring!

May the good work that the Lord is accomplishing in us be brought to fulfillment in His glorious Kingdom!

pax et bonum,

Father John Mosimann