St. Pius Catholic Church

    As I’ve been reporting to you, the parish finances are stretched pretty thin right now.  But this is a situation that was foreseen, and the pastors of the Diocese have been in dialog with Bishop Jenky over the last year about ways to address the situation.  One of the results of that dialog was announced this past week.   They have changed the formula the Diocese uses to determine parish goals for the Annual Diocesan Appeal (ADA).  They have done this to help those parishes which subsidies Catholic schools.
    In 2008 our ADA parish goal was $96,000.  Last year it went up to $110,000.  For this year our goal will be $94,000.  This will certainly help.  Still, it will be a challenge to make the 2010 goal, since in 2009 we’ve pledged just $81,000 of our $110,000 goal. But, it’s good to know the Diocese is listening to the parishes.  Another way the Diocese plans to address the financial needs of parishes with schools is to have all the parishes of the Diocese, whether they have a school or not, somehow share in the support of Catholic schools.  The Bishop has yet to announce how that will be accomplished.
    While the parish budget is tight, there are certain funds which can only be used for specific purposes.  The most important fund is the Fr. Bader Memorial Scholarship fund.  It is thriving in spite of the economy.  Parishioners who are parents of Jordan students, especially parents who may be sending their children to Jordan for the first time, are urged to apply to the Diocese for a Spalding Scholarship so their children will also be available for a Fr. Bader Scholarship from our parish.  Another fund, the Sladek Memorial Fund, will cover the cost of our Confessional renovation project which is just underway.
    Speaking of funds, I want to thank everyone for contributing to the collection to aid Haiti.  We’ve raised $13,451.96.  Continue to keep Haiti in your prayers as they will need a lot of spiritual and financial support for a long time.
    The closeness of some of the primary votes two weeks ago reminds us how important it is for us to cast informed votes.  It’s our civic duty and our Christian responsibility.  Another responsibility is to annually make the best of the 40 days of Lent.  Let’s keep one another in prayer so that we can each discern what it is that the Spirit is calling us to this year.  The parish offers some special educational and liturgical events, but every individual Catholic is also called upon for some special activity or effort during Lent.  Let’s not squander this opportunity for spiritual growth.
    Word from the printer is that the pictorial directories will be here by mid March.
                        Mike Schaab, Pastor