The Diocese, Handicap Ramp, and Sanctuary

Mar 1

Letter from the Pastor
March 3, 2024

The Diocese: A bit over a month ago I thanked those who contributions to the 2023 Annual Catholic Appeal. As I had mentioned, the final tally for the St. Francis of Assisi Parish collection was $62,977.80 of our $100,000 goal.

As the name would imply, the 2024 Annual Catholic Appeal has begun. This year’s appeal is entitled “One Love, One Faith, One Family.” As Bishop O’Connell points out that this “mirrors the teachings of Christ and resonates with the wisdom of Colossians, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” [Col. 3:14] It also reminds us that we are not alone on our journey as individuals or as a parish. We belong to a community of faith on the local level, diocesan level, and universal level.

The annual appeal helps the diocese assist “families in need…supports the education of our youth…empowers individuals to become religious leaders…sustains retired priests…and serves as a resource to Catholic schools and seminarians.” Your donations to the 2024 Annual Catholic Appeal are paid directly to the diocese. You may have received a letter from the diocese in the mail. You can also find the 2024 ACA brochure at the doors of the church. A video of introduction to this year’s appeal can be found by clicking here. The parish receives a direct benefit from this appeal as a percentage of the monies received over the goal. This year they have lowered our goal to $85,000.

Just to note, this annual appeal is in addition to the parish assessment and the catholic school assessment that the parish pays to the diocese every year. These two assessments combined are about $300,000 a year. They are based on the annual donations received the prior years. There is an expectation that we pay these two assessments. The deficit is transferred to the next fiscal year if we do not pay the assessments in full. We do have special collections to help us pay for these assessments but the majority is paid from our operating expenses. There is no penalty if we do not reach the goal for the annual appeal and donations to the annual Catholic appeal are not applied to our assessments. These monies directly support the good works of the diocese.

The Handicap Ramp: You may have noticed that the exit doors closest to the organ have been closed for a few weeks. Because the Long Beach Island Health Department regularly uses our church hall for many of their larger programs offered to the LBI community, they have taken the lead in updating the handicap accessibility to the hall. I would like to thank Daniel Krupinski, the director of the LBIHD, and all the municipalities on LBI for their help installing this new handicap ramp.

Sanctuary: In 1999, St. Francis Church had a major renovation to the interior of the church. Part of that renovation was the instillation of the marble floor in the sanctuary. The marble is showing sure signs of wear and tear and is ready for some cleaning. Because this is a relatively “slow” time of the year for the parish, we will begin cleaning the top floor of the sanctuary on Monday, March 4th. We expect the work to be finished within two days. The cleaning of the steps will be scheduled at another time. Please note that Daily Masses will be held in the St. Francis Church Hall while the work on the sanctuary is completed.

Thank you for your continued generosity and your stewardship of our parish community and of our church.

May God continue to bless you with Peace and All Good.