St. Thomas More Catholic Church Weekly Bulletin 2014-04-20 Easter Sunday | Page 4

Dear Parishioners,
As you know, I studied at the St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Philadelphia. The
Bishop of Allentown needed priests badly so he ordained us early on March 27, 1971.
Every year I get together with classmates from Philadelphia and celebrate our common anniversary the Thursday following Easter Sunday. This year it is Thursday, April
24. Ten years ago I hosted this Mass in our Chapel and again this year I will host this
Mass at 5:00 pm this Thursday.
All are invited to attend. This will be a small gathering of priests from the Philadelphia
and Allentown areas. Later we'll all go out for a relaxing dinner and tell stories of seminary times. Our Philadelphia classmates who were not as intelligent as our Allentown
classmates who were ordained later in the month of May 1971. Please, again, know
you're welcome to join us for Mass.
Peace and love,

PS Many of our parishioners go north for the summer and our staff asked if we could
celebrate my 70th birthday after Easter. The 11:30 am Mass on April 27 has been set
aside for this occasion. My niece Christine from California, my nephew from Boca Raton, Florida and of course, my two sisters from Pennsylvania and their families will join us. My “brother” Peter Freed
will also fly in from Great Britain.
You are all welcome to attend. There will be a picnic lunch following to which you are all invited. Please, your presence is all that is requested. I love it when people get together and connect and meet new friends. Wear your name
badge. You are welcome to donate the money that would be used for a birthday card to our St. Vincent De Paul
Society. God bless you and thanks for all you have given to me in my 13 years as your pastor.

Weekly Offertory

April 12/13, 2014: $27,906.00

April 13/14, 2013: $24,793.18

St. Vincent dePaul $348.00 Easter Flowers $769.00

2014 Catholic Faith Appeal - Why Give?

Online Giving - Parish Pay
www.stthomasmoresrq.org

Your CFA pledge at work in our Diocese: The CFA supports our Permanent Diaconate and our Diaconate Formation
programs. As of December 2013 in our diocese there are 64 active deacons and five diaconate students in formation.
Deacons have parish liturgical duties such as officiating at weddings, baptisms, funerals, assisting at Mass, conducting prayer services and administering sacraments. They serve as hospital and prison chaplains, campus ministers,
police and fire department chaplains, as well as Diocesan department heads and temporary parish administrators
when needed.
Your pledge helps to support the dioaconate programs offered in our diocese and your
pledge helps guarantee the future of clergy, their presence and work within each parish.
438,000
All checks are written payable to: Catholic Faith Appeal.
400,000
Note St. Thomas More Parish on the check memo line. Checks are sent
350,000
to the Diocesan lock-box:
Catholic Faith Appeal
300,000

Diocese of Venice in Florida
250,000

PO Box 60759
200,000

Fort Myers, FL 33906
150,000
100,000
75,000
Weekly Catholic Faith Appeal Update
50,000
Goal:
$ 438,000.00
25,000
Pledged (to-date): 231,136.20
Payments:
168,432.93
% of Households:
22.29% participation; Diocesan requested goal of 35% or higher