It’s the Most Wonderful Parish!

Jan 12

Letter from the Pastor
January 14, 2024

Echoing a bit of my Christmas Eve homily, this is the most wonderful parish!!

Last week, Tina Kelsall texted me, “When do you want me to take the Christmas decorations down?” I immediately replied, “I really don’t want you to take them down!”

The church looked so beautiful that it would have been great if we could have kept them up longer, but Christmas officially was over on Monday, January 8th when the Church celebrated the Baptism of the Lord. I begrudgingly asked Tina to begin taking down the decorations after the 9 AM Mass on Monday the 8th. Another Christmas is gone, but another new year is upon us, and it is always good to start again!

I want to sincerely thank all of you for your very generous donations to the parish this Christmas.

This year the Christmas Flower Fund totaled $19,452.00. Last year, $18,518 was collected. Thank you, one and all! That’s the main reason why we can make the church look so beautiful!

A special thanks also needs to be made to Oli Zelles, a florist from Cliffside Park, NJ., and a friend of St. Francis Parish. She not only donated her time decorating, but she also donated the green boughs and branches. Thank you, Thank you, Oli!

In our attempt to save paper and resources, the 2023 Christmas Flower Fund Memorial is posted on our parish website. Thank you for your great love of our parish and for all of your support.

As of Wednesday, January 10th, the Christmas collection for 2023 was $125,104. Last year, at this point, the collection was $123,262 and by the end of January our Christmas collection for 2022 was $126,182. The gifts do continue to come in until the end of the month.

Thank you also to those who contributed to the Annual Catholic Appeal. This collection helps fund the operations and initiatives of the Diocese of Trenton. At the end of the year, your generosity pledged $62,977.80 to the diocese. [2022, $57,123.38] On behalf of Bp. O’Connell, I want to thank you for your support of our diocese.

Finally, I have been texting back and forth with Bp. O’Connell. As of Tuesday, he was still in Rome but recovering and hopeful of returning home soon. He let me know that although he could not be at the Mass that would be celebrated in Assisi, he asked the priests to offer that Mass for the LBI Franciscans and our parishioners. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to recover.

May God continue to bless you and your families with peace and all that is good. May the blessings of 2023 pale in comparison to the blessings that await us in 2024.