Saint Philip the Apostle Catholic Church

Peace to you from the rectory! As we enter into this last week before Christmas – a time filled with much joy and excitement, but also with great demands – please know that I am praying for you. In particular, I am praying that your Christmas celebration this year will bring you into closer contact with Our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the best ways of accomplishing this is to have a personal encounter with Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

If you did not get the chance to receive this Sacrament during Advent, please know that the priests of St. Philip will be hearing Confessions every night this week, starting tonight (Sunday, December 18) at 6:00 pm, and then at 7:30 pm each night for the rest of the week, Monday until Friday.

Before 2011 draws to a close, I would like to say one more word on parish finances. Since October, when we released our parish financial report, I have been writing about debt reduction. My main point has been that we need to work steadily on retiring our debt, while at the same time maintaining our present level of Sunday offertory income. Since this two-fold objective involves both supporting regular parish operations and retiring the debt, our present efforts are going to require sacrificial giving, i.e., giving at higher levels. A very efficient way to insure that this kind of giving occurs consistently would be by using Faith Direct, our parish electronic giving service.

This month you will be receiving a mailing from Faith Direct and me. For those not enrolled in the Faith Direct program, the letter includes an invitation to enroll; for those already enrolled, there are words of gratitude from me, along with information on new options for having funds deducted. In both letters, there is a special appeal to use Faith Direct as a way to support our debt retirement effort, either on a regular basis, or, with a one-time gift. It would be ideal if as many as possible were using Faith Direct. However, whatever way you give is greatly appreciated, as all your support enables the work of God to continue here at St. Philip Parish. St. Philip the Apostle – pray for us!