AMDG
Dear OSJ Family,
This week I take the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the good work of our Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). At OSJ we are fortunate enough to have both a Parish Council and a separate Finance Council that assist the pastor and the pastoral staff in leading our parish. Our incredibly talented Finance Council guides us in financial and administrative matters which are crucial to the life of our parish. To them, and their chair, Mr. Paul Shay, Esq., we remain extremely grateful.
The PPC is charged with assisting me (as your pastor) and our staff to guide the spiritual life of the parish, and to attend to the various pastoral ministries that are in service to our parish family. This includes spiritual formation, organizations and activities, parish outreach, Christian formation/education, family life, and social justice, to name a few. The PPC has no governing authority, but rather serves as consultants to me and to the parish staff in insuring that our Catholic and Jesuit mission at OSJ is being fully realized. Consistent with our Archdiocesan norms, the council is presided over by the pastor and is coordinated by the chair of the council, who is assisted by a vice chair and twelve members who are elected by the parish community. We meet monthly and are in constant communication with one another. I am happy to say that the twelve that you have elected are a good and fair representation of our parish members.
Accordingly, PPC discusses parish business as related to our various committees (we have many!) and their activities. Any concerns of parishioners are brought up and shared with me and then with the pastoral staff. Interestingly, all sorts of things are discussed—such as what parishioners think about the parish feast days, what types of music are desired at each liturgy, and how to best welcome our newest parishioners.
Finally, the PPC will assists us in launching some new committees that may better serve the ever changing needs of our faith community in the areas of youth ministry, family life, evangelization/communication, LGBT spiritual support, and senior members. A recent task force led by the PPC has been instrumental with this and for that we are most grateful!
Soon we will share with you the names of our newly elected PPC members. I do, however, want to again publicly thank those outgoing members who have served so generously and so lovingly. At this time we thank Mr. Bill Culleton Esq., outgoing chair, Mr. Anthony Campisi, Mrs. Kathleen Montgomery, and Mr. Bill Stewart, Esq. We are indebted to these fine persons! Please join me in thanking them. The good news is that all of them will remain active in our initiatives and for that we are even more grateful!
Thank you and God bless.
Fr. Phil Florio, S.J.
