Feeling better:  I mentioned last weekend that my mom recently had knee replacement surgery.  After spending a few days in the hospital she went to Heartland Rehab Center in Sterling Heights.  Thankfully, she was released this past Wednesday; she was there a total of 18 days and she couldn’t wait to get home.  My mom had two main goals for returning home: 1) to be back home with her hubby and 2) to get caught up on some much needed sleep.  In fact, our mom had one wish for us kids upon her return home:  call late the next day because she was going straight to bed when she walked through the doors of the condo with the hopes of getting a long uninterrupted “winter’s nap.”  She was convinced she hasn’t healed all too quickly because she was so sleep deprived.  Three and a half weeks of constantly being interrupted in your sleep would drive anyone crazy!
 
Parenthetically, it was amazing to see how many people I would run into at Heartland the longer I was hanging around that place.  Whether it was a parishioner visiting her mom or a grade school and high school friend visiting his dad, I started to form quite the little community.  Then, as people saw me walk into the place with vestments on Sundays, word would get out and suddenly we would have a little congregation for mass.  It was cool to watch all that unfold.  And, as I mentioned last week, the added bonus of being the room with the chocolate and snacks was a hit too!
 
A few days ago, I only had a couple of hours to spare so I decided I would head over to Heartland during the afternoon and spend a half hour or so with my mom and my aunt (who was also at Heartland).  It was obvious to my mom that day I was paying way too much attention to my watch during my quick visit.  When I’m crunched for time, I’ll often set my countdown timer so I don’t have to be so worried about watching my watch to make sure I exit on time.  This time, unfortunately, I failed to use that little trick so I was watching my watch more than usual.  Well, I knew that day my mom had turned the corner with her pain because she called me out on my little antics.  “You know,” she said, “you’re a hit and miss visitor.  You can spend a little more time with your mother.  I almost need to tie you down sometimes to stick around.  You can watch me eat lunch.”  “Yep, she’s feeling much better,” I thought to myself.  Not to be outdone, I took out my phone and started to take notes as I said with a huge smile, “Thanks for the bulletin article Mom.”  As I jotted my notes and she continued to eat her lunch, she responded, “Me and my big mouth.  I should know better.  You should just start recording the very moment you walk in the room.”  Forget what OT and PT thought, I could tell my mom was feeling much better; it was a clear sign she was ready to go home!
 
Maintaining God’s House:  SJA’s Capital Campaign:  Over the past two weekends at mass, we’ve discussed the various projects that form the basis for our capital campaign, rightly entitled: Maintaining God’s House.  We are the beneficiaries of a beautiful church, school and campus.  It’s now our turn to make some sacrifices and do what we can to Maintain God’s House so that generations to come may experience the very beauty that we enjoy.
 
If you haven’t received it already, you will shortly receive in the mail more information about the campaign.  I would ask that you please reflect on the information you receive and consider how you can support the campaign. When we gather for mass next weekend, we will spend a few minutes after the homily talking about the pledge cards; we will then give people the opportunity to fill out and return the cards.  Our hope is to have every family make a pledge to the campaign. I am confident that we can Maintain God’s House and thus enrich our parish for years to come.
 
Our Leadership Team and Finance Council met at the beginning of the year to assess our needs and establish the campaign’s goal.  That research and discussion yielded a campaign goal of $ 2,000,000.  Our hope is to raise these funds over the next three years. With the help of each family, I am confident we can exceed that goal.

As your family prays and reflects on the level of their gift, please know that no one can tell another what to give but many families ask for guidance. Therefore, a “Guideline to Giving” was distributed at all Masses this week. This information will also be found in the campaign brochure you will receive in the mail. When deciding how much to give to the capital campaign, many parishioners have also found it helpful to start their thinking at giving “one dollar per week per one-thousand dollars of annual household income.” In other words, if you make $50,000 per year, consider $50 per week, $80,000 per year consider $80 per week and so on. Please also remember that your capital campaign gift is over and above what you contribute weekly or monthly to the offertory collection.  Obviously, we count on and need our Sunday offertory collection for normal operating needs.
 
I would ask that you and your family pray about what you can give to the campaign over the next three years.  You may find the “Suggested Gift Plan” portion of the brochure to be most helpful to you.  Also consider that your gift to the campaign also pays for this year’s Catholic Services Appeal.  You may recall that we did not conduct the CSA this year because we rolled that goal into our capital campaign so as not to have two different campaigns this year.  As such, I would ask that you remember what you would normally give to the CSA and then add that amount to what you think you could give to the campaign over the next three years.  Your completed pledge card should then be brought to mass next weekend.  We will collect the pledge cards after the homily at each of the masses.
 
Trunk or Treat Party:  Please remember that this Friday (October 26) is our annual Halloween Tailgate Party.  This annual event is something many of us enjoy and look forward to each year.  I hope you’ll join us.  Please sign up online at www.sjascs.org/halloween.
 
Enjoy the week.  Know of my prayers.
 
In Christ,
 
gmb
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