Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Each year we have our Parish Grand Annual Appeal, which supports our life together here at St. Mary’s. Unlike the Catholic Appeal, which is for the needs of the Archdiocese of Boston, the Parish Grand Annual Appeal is solely about supporting the needs of our own parish. While the weekly Offertory supports much of our regular operating budget, this will allow us to target specific projects of importance for the year.
Our parish family continues to grow. This year we successfully launched two programs that have contributed to this growth. For example, one of the programs, Connected in Christ, serves those from the ages of 40 to 65ish, an age group that was significantly underserved. The group meets monthly for educational, spiritual, and social programs. The second program, See Christ in Others, serves those in our parish with disabilities.
With that in mind, I would like to announce that the Parish Grand Annual Appeal will take place next weekend, October 26th and 27th. This year all donations received will be used to weatherproof and repair the exterior of the rectory ($55,000) and to repaint the heating pipes in the lower Church Hall {Mary Hall} ($18,000).
Since many of you have already donated so generously to the Church’s air-conditioning project, we have lowered this year’s goal to $75,000. If you were not able to donate to the air-conditioning project, I ask you to prayerfully consider donating to the Parish Grand Annual Appeal. Please give what your means allow and be mindful that 100% of your donation stays within the parish.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Wayne