It’s Always Something!

Sep 15

Written By Keel Agency LLC

Letter from the Pastor

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sept. 17, 2023

It’s Always Something!

I don’t always quote scripture. Sometimes I quote Gilda Radner's Roseanne Roseannadanna from the original cast of Saturday Night Live. She would often end her news report saying, “It’s like my father always said to me, he said to me, he said, Roseanne Roseannadanna; it’s always something. If it isn’t one thing – it’s another. It’s always something.” I usually use the last part of that line when some feathers have been ruffled or something, by chance, goes wrong, like a pipe bursts, or a roof leaks. It’s always something!

However, sometimes those “things” that happen are good. Today, I would like to update you on some of the good things that are happening in the parish.

Despite losing one of our five nights, the Festival of Sea was a great success. After all the bills were paid, our Festival 2023 had a profit of $52,044.67. Again, thank you to everyone who made that possible, from our volunteers to our sponsors, vendors, and guests. Thank you! Here’s to next year. Remember, it will be an entirely new ride and games company and will be during the week of July 4th! Mark your calendars!
We are bringing to a close this year’s “Treasure” phase of our parish Stewardship campaign, The Joy of Sharing the Gospel. A separate note of appreciation with explanation of the details will be forthcoming. In brief, I have to say, you did it again! St. Francis Parish rose to the challenge. Through your generous pledges, our collections will, for the first time in a long time, be able to meet our operating expenses. In just a few weeks, as we celebrate our patron, St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4th, we will launch the “Time” and “Talent” phases of Stewardship. We will ask ourselves how we use our time. Time is our most valuable resource, but without a proper perspective, we might spend it foolishly. Do we use our time to build up God’s Kingdom? How much time to we set aside to be with the Lord in prayer so we can build a better relationship with God? We will also ask ourselves how we share our talents with the parish community and the larger community. As St. Francis did, after he heard the call from the San Damiano Cross to “Go and rebuild my Church,” we strive to do the same in our own day and time, and in doing so, we continue Jesus’ call to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Last fall, at the presentation of the Annual Report to the parish, I shared with you that we were looking to sell two pieces of property in Surf City and the old “Central Supply,” the original St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Beach Haven. They have been sold. Our debt to the diocese has been paid, and we have a nice little nest egg of about 4 million dollars to invest. The return on these investments will allow us to address the larger capital expenses of the parish. For the most part, this would include the repair and upkeep of our facilities. Living on Long Beach Island is wonderful, but we all know the harsh weather is a challenge to our structures, even if they are made of brick. I am most grateful for the help Joe Hummel provided facilitating the sale of these properties. They don’t teach us any of this stuff in seminary! Thank you, Joe. I would also like to thank Arlene Morrison for her help, and Bill Hodgson and Island Realty for all the work they provided and their very generous service to our parish community.
Concurrent with the sale of these properties, two sub-committees of the St. Francis Parish Finance Council have been formed: the St. Francis Parish Investment Committee and the St. Francis Parish Facilities Committee. These two committees will work in tandem with the Finance Council to coordinate the major projects of the parish moving forward. I am grateful for those who have volunteered their time to sit on these committees:
- Parish Facilities Committee: Joseph Hummel, chair, Anne Nachman, Art Puzzaferro, and Michael Strunk.
- Parish Investment Committee: Diedre Fitzpatrick, Thomas Lynch, Allen Magrini, Shawn Mahony, Joan Sawicki, Joseph Vaszily, chair, David Young.

My sincere thanks to our present St. Francis Parish Finance Council, Cecelia Fowler, Joseph Hummel, Stacey Kelsall, parish comptroller, Joseph Mack, chair, Jay Pojednic, Fr. Andrew Reitz, Joseph Vaszily, and Peter Williams, and Marie Maslanka, our Parish Secretary, for all of their hard work. Thank you to Angelo Rinaldi who sat on the council for almost three years but unfortunately moved away from the area. A special thanks to Joe Mack for leading the charge on the Stewardship campaign and Joe Hummel for his review of our facilities and maintenance department, which led to the creation of our new facilities committee.

As Roseanne Roseannadanna said, “It’s always something.” Here at St. Francis, there is always something going on, but that’s only because of all the people who celebrate the Eucharist and with conviction go out and live it. You make my ministry so very easy! Thank you!

May God continue to bless us with Peace and All Good!