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BETTERS BLOG<br />
Dear <strong>Parish</strong>ioners,<br />
Tomorrow is the feast of the Transfiguration. It is a beautiful feast in which we remember Jesus taking Peter, James<br />
<strong>and</strong> John on the mountain <strong>and</strong> then was transfigured before them. It was at this moment they realized the Divinity of<br />
Christ. They realized that their destiny was not to end on earth; but instead they were destined to share eternal life<br />
with Christ. As we celebrate this feast, we call to mind that we too are destined for eternal life with Christ. This is a<br />
wonderful gift that Christ gives us <strong>and</strong> how blessed we are. How do we respond to this gift?<br />
As you may or may not know, we have temporarily closed the Mustard Seed Religious Gift Shop. I would like to<br />
give you a little background. My hope for this shop is for us to focus on providing religious goods, books, gifts,<br />
music, etc. for our parishioners <strong>and</strong> the local community. Under the leadership of Mary Clare Zahler, a faithful group of volunteers<br />
have been running the store. However, after an internal audit of parish fundraising; I became concerned recently when I found that<br />
in the first year we did almost $12,000 in sales <strong>and</strong> last year we did just under half of this. While the store is not meant to be a<br />
major money maker, it does cause me to question if this is the best use of the space <strong>and</strong> are we truly serving the mission of the<br />
parish. In addition, I have begun to receive several comments that people could not find a nice religious card, music or book there<br />
<strong>and</strong> many people left empty h<strong>and</strong>ed. Therefore, I asked Ellen Ivory to meet with the volunteers, various parishioners <strong>and</strong> members<br />
of the community to get their input. After receiving their input, we have decided the following:<br />
~We will re-open in September. We will focus exclusively on religious items of cards, books, statues, metals, gifts, cards,<br />
music <strong>and</strong> video’s. These will be reasonably priced <strong>and</strong> very nice items.<br />
~We will devote one room to SRW Spirit Ware <strong>and</strong> items that show off parish <strong>and</strong> school spirit.<br />
~We will allow one room to be done on consignment. If parishioners have something new items they would like to sell, we<br />
will allow them to sell it there if it is supportive of the mission of the parish.<br />
~We will have items of support of A.A. ,other self-help ministries <strong>and</strong> Fair Trade Items (an aspect of Catholic Social<br />
Teaching).<br />
~We will seek to have items that support adult faith formation. In addition, we will have speakers <strong>and</strong> other sorts of events<br />
held there.<br />
~We will exp<strong>and</strong> the hours <strong>and</strong> be open at more convenient times.<br />
~We will continue to have our wonderful group of volunteers run the ministry.<br />
~We will seek to do a much better job of marketing the treasure that it will become.<br />
Like the mustard seed, it will start very small <strong>and</strong> hopefully blossom into something great. I am most appreciative of all of the hard<br />
work that has gone into the Mustard Seed up until this point <strong>and</strong> I look forward to working with the volunteers to continue to<br />
continue its growth. Ellen will be conducting a survey at some point in August of all parishioners about the Mustard Seed. Watch<br />
the bulletin for more details <strong>and</strong> get ready for its Gr<strong>and</strong> Reopening!<br />
I would like to thank three wonderful ladies, Jane Meszoros, Mary Ann Weybrecht, <strong>and</strong> Charlotte Triplett. A parishioner fell in the<br />
bathroom <strong>and</strong> cut her head. These three wonderful ladies ministered to her <strong>and</strong> made sure the paramedics took good care of her.<br />
This is just one example of what I see every day, every where I look. <strong>Parish</strong>ioners are always reaching out <strong>and</strong> helping one another.<br />
We are so blessed with such a great parish.<br />
Make it a great week! See you in Church! ~ Fr. John<br />
BAKE SALE at the PARISH FESTIVAL<br />
This year, the SRW Seniors will be staffing a Bake sale at our <strong>Parish</strong> Festival<br />
on all three days. We need you to help <strong>and</strong> join them in bringing bakery for<br />
them to sell. We are looking for pieces that can be eaten easily without forks<br />
<strong>and</strong> plates, such as cookies, cupcakes, brownies <strong>and</strong> small pastries.<br />
Many people enjoy the varieties of food offered at the Festival <strong>and</strong> this bake<br />
sale will offer desserts <strong>and</strong> the opportunity to take some treats home for later.<br />
All baked goods can be dropped off at the stage in the Gym on either Thursday,<br />
23 Aug. from 4-6 pm or Friday 24 Aug. from 8:30 am until Noon. Help sweeten<br />
our Festival!<br />
~ Rev. David A. Novak Chaplain to the Seniors
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