From our pastor, Fr. Chas Canoy…
Parking Lot Project Kickoff!
Dear Parish Family,
This July, you will see the beginning of work on the Witness to Hope parking lot project across the street from St. John Church. As we have mentioned a number of times, our original plan was to simply repave it. Like the Family Dollar parking lot across the street, however, new city requirements would not allow a simple repaving. The city mandated things like additional islands of green space and improved drainage, substantially increasing the original forecasted cost. So please be faithful to your Witness to Hope pledges to ensure we have the funds to complete it.
Speaking of faithfulness, we are so very grateful for our parish family’s generous response this past fiscal year (July 2019 to June 2020) to our Sunday offertory! Despite this pandemic, we had a very strong finish during this last quarter! It really is your fidelity to what you pledged during this time last year that not only kept our full-time staff employed, but has allowed us to flourish in proclaiming the Good News amidst all the bad news in the world. Many other parishes across the country unfortunately have not been so fortunate during this Covid shutdown! So THANK YOU to the 467 parish households who pledged this time last year!
If you haven’t already, we invite you to keep the great things we have going this next fiscal year! To date, we have 345 pledge cards to our Sunday offertory. To help us in our effort for another $100,000 grant from the Trinity Trust, please turn in a pledge card for your Sunday offertory for July 2020 to June 2021 even if your pledge amount remains unchanged. This also helps us tremendously in our budgeting process.
Mark Martin is now Deacon Mark Martin, Preaching Here Next Weekend!
Just three weekends ago, Fr. Brian and I had the pleasure of seeing seminarian Mark Martin be ordained to the diaconate! It was great to see him wearing the deacon’s stole and dalmatic. God willing this month next year, he will be ordained a priest!
Dcn. Mark will be coming to St. John to preach for the very first time at all the weekend Masses on July 11 and 12! He is s
o very appreciative of all the support you’ve given to the Diocesan Services Appeal through these years, which has helped pay for his tuition, room, and board.
While at the ordination, we also got to meet some of the “bumper crop” of seminarians. With about a dozen men entering seminary this year, this incoming class will be the biggest one in over a decade! Paying for their education and formation is a good problem to have. So a reminder to turn in your annual D.S.A. donation with the Sunday offertory pledge card if you haven’t already. That’s the 1% of the 5-4-1 model of stewardship.
More Than Ever, We Need God!
The most fundamental ill in our country, from which all these many social ills stem we are seeing destroying our country, is our society’s rejection of God. That has allowed Satan, the Enemy, to sow his seeds of destruction and division. Now, more than ever, our world needs the Good News of Jesus Christ! And your fidelity to all three aspects of the 5-4-1 Generosity Challenge is helping make that happen here in Jackson! I’m happy to be fighting the good fight with you!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Chas Canoy