Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This weekend, in partnership with Our Sunday Visitor and with the encouragement of the Diocese of Bridgeport, we are launching an increased offertory giving campaign. You will receive a lot of information and suggestions for how you might contribute, as well as statistics about our parish community. Suffice it to say, our parish is not exempt from the rising costs of doing business! In addition to our regular operating expenses, which the weekly offertory collection helps us to cover, we have some bigger picture maintenance needs that go a bit beyond that regular operation. Most pressing is our need for repair to our church heating system, including replacing the boiler. With colder weather around the corner, raising funds for this project is a major priority. Any money we raise over the cost of those repairs will be set aside in a special maintenance fund. We’ll talk more about that maintenance fund another time, but for now it is sufficient to say that all our buildings are facing real needs for repair, upgrades, or routine care in the coming years.

I try to avoid talking about or asking for money as much as possible. At the same time, I know that I have a responsibility to be a good steward of the resources entrusted to me as pastor. Those resources, though, do not belong to me personally. They belong to this parish family and have belonged to this parish since long before I was born. The treasure that is St. Pius X Parish is something I know that you all receive with great gratitude. As you know, this is not an heirloom to be placed on a shelf, but it is rather a living, dynamic, growing community. From our original 464 families, we have grown to over 2,500 families. For over 70 years, this parish family has celebrated countless sacramental milestones – baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals, and everything in between. All of that continues, and will, please God, continue for generations to come. Outside the Community Room is a list of all the pastors of St. Pius X. I am seventh on the list, but I am well-aware that I will not be the last! All that is to say, we, together, are part of the legacy of this parish, and together we are invited to prepare for the continued growth and progress of this family of faith.

We, together. That is the whole nature of the offertory at Mass. The collection that is taken up is a sign that all of us, together, are participating both in the offering of bread and wine that is made to God in the Mass, as well as in the care of the community to which we belong. The simple act of placing an envelope, or cash in the basket (or, in this digital age, of making an online gift), is a participation in what the parish is really all about. We, together, living the Gospel and laying a faith-filled foundation for every generation to come. With that in mind, I thank you for your constant generosity. Thank you for supporting this parish in her immediate, short-term needs, and in the regular, day-to-day concerns. Thank you for being part of our parish history, our parish present, and our parish family’s future.

Peace,

Fr. Sam