Everyone who attended Mass in the Grass and the Parish & School Picnic last Sunday agreed that it was a fantastic event! The weather was perfect, certainly, and our community turned out in force to pray and celebrate. I’m especially grateful to the members of the parish staff who made all the plans and preparations; the parish organizations who donated their assistance; and all the parishioners who came to spend some hours together in Tower Grove Park. I think we all agree that this should be an annual event!
Now we are looking forward to Stewardship Awareness Sunday, which is celebrated next weekend at all the parishes of the Archdiocese, including St. Margaret of Scotland. Stewardship is all about gratitude and generosity! We are grateful to God for all that we have received, and we strive to be more generous in sharing those gifts with others. Let us always strive to be more grateful and generous.
Each of you should have received our Annual Stewardship Report in the mail in the last weeks. This report highlights all the good that has been accomplished at St. Margaret over the last year. We are grateful for our 794 parish families, including 69 new families in this last year. We celebrate 36 baptisms, 45 First Communions, 35 Confirmations, 8 Marriages, and 6 Adult Initiations. We celebrate having 452 children at St. Margaret of Scotland School, and 39 active parish ministries that have sponsored 77 parish and school events. The Spirit is alive and well at St. Margaret, and as we celebrate our Quasquicentennial year, we ask God’s blessings on our parish for the next 125 years!
Next weekend, we will have a Stewardship Fair in the Parish Hall after all the Masses. This year, we are having just one weekend for the Stewardship Fair, so I encourage you to take some time after Mass to come to the Hall, learn about some parish organizations and ministries, have some food and drink, and share fellowship and conversation with your fellow parishioners. Members of our parish staff will also be available in the Hall with laptops to assist you if you need to set up or change your electronic giving, and to get you signed up to receive Flocknotes so that you can receive email updates from the parish and for specific ministries that you are interested in.
On the weekend of September 28-29, a member of the Finance Council will present our annual financial report at all the Masses. A summary statement of our revenue and expenses for the last fiscal year was included in the Annual Stewardship Report you received in the mail. I am happy to report that the parish has no debt, we pay all our bills in a timely manner, and we have parish savings. Still, we must always remain diligent with our finances, as capital improvements and expenses with school are always necessary. As always, I am grateful for your financial generosity to the parish. Please consider your current level of giving and increase as you can or adjust if necessary. I encourage everyone to give electronically, so please sign up for online giving.
As we celebrate Stewardship, Nametag Sundays will return for a few weeks! Please wear a nametag at Mass these weeks, learn a few more names of parishioners, and introduce yourself to others at Mass. Let’s strengthen our parish community as we celebrate our past and look forward to the future! St. Margaret of Scotland, pray for us.
