How beautiful to end 2017 with the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, a family where one can draw inspiration in dealing with their own family and be blessed like them. Love, faith and obedience are just some of the traits that we can see from them. Mary and Joseph nurtured Jesus with love and faith and we can see that in how Jesus grew up. He grew up not only in age, but also in wisdom and grace. They also showed Jesus how the temple is important in their relationship with God, so much so that when Jesus was growing up, they would take him to the temple to learn how to pray and become accustom to all religious traditions and festivities. That’s how Mary and Joseph helped Jesus to grow in love, faith and obedience. And this is what they want to share with us in our own family—a father and mother helping their children to grow in love, to grow in faith and to grow in obedience, not only to the parents, but also to God. All these traits are learned by children when they see and experience them from their parents. Children become loving when they experience the love from their parents. They grow in faith when they see parents giving examples in practicing the faith, like going to Church on Sundays and holy days, praying at home and imparting the Christian values. Obedience is learned by children when parents learn to obey God through His commands.

As your pastor, this is also what I envision for our parish as we continue to grow, that we become a family who loves and cares for every member in our parish community, a family who welcomes and appreciates new members, and a family who helps each other to grow in faith as we continue our life’s journey.

As we are coming to an end of the calendar year, I think it is good to look back and see how we journeyed in the life of our parish. And I would like to share with all of you some of the highlights in terms of finances, facilities and sacraments. As you can see, we had a very productive and spirit filled year. It would not be a fruitful year without your collaboration and generous support.

And so, I would like to thank the parish staff, members of the Parish Council and Finance Council, the various ministries, volunteers and all the members of our parish for making 2017 a fruitful year.

As we begin another year, may God bless us and guide us in all our endeavors all for the greater glory of God and the good of our parish and families.

FINANCES—Financial Summary for the Fiscal Year 2016-2017

Total Income                                                                   $495,905.59
Beginning Cash Balance as of July 1st, 2016                    35,044.08
   Total                                                                             $530,949.67

Total Expenses                                                               $504,782.49
Ending Cash Balance as of June 30th, 2017                     26,167.18
   Total                                                                             $530,949.67

FACILITIES

Following were this year’s major projects:
The Church steeple; the electrical wiring upgrade; double glass doors in the                                         Administration building—all funded by our DLA
The painting of the interior Church that was funded through a bequest given by the                             Fuhrman family in honor of their father, Philip Fuhrman
The crucifix that was installed above the altar through the generosity of the Young Family                   in honor of their parents, Charles and Mary Young
The marble in our sanctuary that was installed and funded through the generosity of                            twelve families of the parish

SACRAMENTS

Baptisms: Parishioners—18 Non-Parishioner—1 RCIA—1
First Holy Communion: 16
Confirmation: 0
Marriages: 5
Deaths: Parishioners—18 Non Parishioner—5

Registered New Families for 2017—33