St. Pius Catholic Church

    Happy New Year!  It’s now 2010, so we get another chance to start over in some ways.  It’s a time for New Years resolutions, or a time for admitting that the resolves of 2009 were not fully achieved so we need to repeat some of them.  Whatever the case, may the new year be full of blessings for you and yours.
    I repeat here what I wrote on November 29, 2009 regarding the distribution of Bulletins.  “Bulletins will be given out as we leave church after Mass.  We have 1550 households registered in the parish.  We print 850 bulletins each week.  After the Masses there are many bulletins left in the pews which means than many of our parish households do not have printed reminders of church activities in their homes for the coming week.  Better communication is one of our goals and we’re asking you to take home the bulletin for your own sake and for the sake of others.  Is there someone in your household who should read it?  Is there an individual or a family in your neighborhood who might not have been at Mass and who would benefit from reading the bulletin that only you can share with them?  Or is there someone living nearby or whom you know through work who is not attending our parish and who might be interested in knowing more about us?  Let’s make our 850 bulletins more effective communicators within and beyond our own congregation.”
    Thanks for helping us try to improve our communication.  I’m grateful for your cooperation with this little change.  Another reason for taking the bulletin home is the fact that we’re now printing the altar server schedule only once a month, on the last Sunday of the month.  The assignments for the following month are in that one bulletin, so please remember to tear the schedule out and keep it if you have a server in your household.  Another reason for taking the bulletin home is the Epiphany Blessing of a Home that’s printed in this issue.  After using it, please store it with your Christmas decorations so that you have it next year for Epiphany 2011. 
    No one knows how long the present recession will be around.  For that reason, if you have a student at Jordan, I strongly urge you, as soon as you have your IRS taxes complete, to apply for the Spalding Scholarship from the Diocese of Peoria.  You’ll need to do that in order to qualify for applying for the Father Bader Scholarship Fund in our parish.  Let’s work together so that no student ever decides against attending Jordan Catholic School because the tuition is too high.  That’s why the Diocese has a scholarship fund, Jordan has its own scholarship funds and St. Pius X parish has the Fr. Bader Fund for its own children.  Please spread this news to parents of future Jordan students, too.
    May the new year be a great year of grace for us all!        
                                     Mike Schaab, Pastor