St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church
Fr. J.J.’s Jottings

Knights of the Round Tables?
If you have had a meeting in the Davidson Center recently and have gotten splinters in your elbows, you knew we were sorely in need of new tables.  Well, thanks to our illustrious Knights of Columbus Council, we have all new, yes you read that right, all new tables. “Thank you” to my brother Knights for your generosity and for all you do to make St. Anastasia such a great place.

P.S. The Knights are willing to remove any splinters at no cost (as long as you were not sitting on the table!?!) 

Mystery Giver
On New Year’s weekend, some very generous person dropped off a basket of cookies & candy, treats for Jerry, a cake, and some juice and left it in the parish office. It was a great surprise and it was delicious, but we do not know who to thank. So if the mystery giver would please notify me, that would be appreciated, so a proper thanks could be offered! That would be very much appreciated. 

We have had some wonderful things happen here at St. Anastasia in 2011 (Art for God’s Sake, new members joining, new ministries, new staff . . .).  For me personally, 2011 had some really rough patches (one, being the death of my Dad).  Because of these experiences, as I opened up my many Christmas Cards this year, I began to try to read them in a new way.  I asked myself what God might be trying to express to me as I carried around a lot of raw emotion.

What a Ball
Last weekend, a large group of St. Anastasia parishioners, some of our pals from St. Aloysius, and several new attendees had a great time at this year’s St. Anastasia Charity Christmas Ball. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped with this year’s event. There were so many folks who shared their gifts to make this night a success. It is a beautiful witness of our faith when so many different people come together to give of their time, talent and treasure. One of the committee said that the spirit of the night just keeps getting better and better each year. Many were helped and many had fun.  We will pass along the nights tally once we get the final numbers, but I have a feeling that many a homeless individual will be helped. 

We Have Hungry Patients 
Recently I have received amazing compliments about our Eucharistic ministers from folks who had been patients at Beaumont Hospital. One of these patients was a priest. He did not let them know that he was clergy, and he shared that the person who gave him the Eucharist was not only very professional, but also extremely friendly and pastoral. He said that I should be very proud of our ministers. I want you to know that I am very proud of these folks who take a few extra minutes out of their Sunday morning routine to make sure that they take care of the pastoral needs of those who cannot join us at the altar table.

Open Wide and Say “Ahhhhh”
We have a huge variety of ministries here at St. Anastasia. We try to serve parishioners in regards to every aspect of their person. We try to do this spiritually through our liturgies, prayer opportunities, reconciliation, etc. We do this intellectually through all of the educational opportunities like our library, speakers who come in, Bible  studies, book clubs, etc. We even do it socially through our many fun activities like the square dances and St. Patrick day parties. 

Revised Roman Missal
As we prepare for the implementation of the third edition of The Roman Missal, many folks feel a little nervous. Change is never easy. We wonder about what is ahead? How will it impact my ability to worship? Will I like it? 

Busy Week!
There is a lot that is happening this week. On Monday is Halloween. This would have been my Dad’s 86^th birthday. Please offer a prayer for him, my mom and family. Grief is never a fun thing. Tuesday is All Saints’ Day. This is a Holy Day of   Obligation. The day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in heaven. It is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. We celebrate in the U.S with Masses. Here at St. A’s we have a 7:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 7:00 p.m. Mass. The next day, All Souls’ Day, specifically commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet reached heaven. As Catholics, we celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual communion between those in the state of grace who have died and are either being purified in purgatory or are in heaven and those of us in the church who are the living. In other words our prayers and theirs have an effect. So come and join us. You are also welcome on Thursday night where we celebrate a bereavement Mass at 7:00 p.m. for all who have been buried from St. Anastasia. We have had a lot of funerals this past year and all those folks would love your presence to help pray for those who have died. In the month of November we pray in a special way for the dead. Come support those who are grieving.

Changing Lives Together
We had some wonderful gatherings this past week with Archbishop Vigneron and his assistant, Bishop Michael Byrnes. They spoke about the mission that we all have and the vision of what Changing Lives Together is all about. I am grateful to so many of you for taking the time to come. We had opportunity for Q and A, which was very positive and clarifying. There was an excellent spirit. A couple things came up that I thought might be helpful. I would like to point out that the targets for the parishes throughout the Archdiocese are set at 90% of the annual offertory collection (Sunday and holidays). For us here at St. Anastasia, that target is then $1,300,000. There is no penalty if we do not reach it. In other words, unlike CSA, we do not have to dip into our operating budget if it is not reached. We keep 70% of that. That means if we reach our target, $910,000 is used to do what we want with. That is why I want you to “Dream Big”, so we can figure out how we will utilize it here. In the next few weeks you will be able to let me and the staff know what you want. If we raise any amount over the target, we get to keep that as well for our wants and needs.

CHANGING LIVES TOGETHER
By this time, you have already received a phone call from one of our faithful callers. Hopefully you have either picked up your info packet last weekend or received it in the mail this week (or because bulk mail takes a little longer, will receive it soon). You now understand how Changing Lives Together is a great vehicle for opportunity.