Dear Friends,
There are two matters of importance to share with you. The firsts is about the checks that are made out to St. Matthias. The Chase bank has introduced stricter security controls and so they have informed us that every check must be made payable to “Church of St. Matthias” which is the official name of our account with them. That means they will not honor checks written to St. Matthias Church, Community of St. Matthias, St. Matthias parish, etc. So I request you, if you are making any contribution by check to the parish, to write it to Church of St. Matthias.
The second matter is: today we have the commissioning of our new Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) at the 12 noon Mass. Each year, one third of the members retire after a three-year term of service. Thus Marilyn Wegg and Frank Rees are retiring this year. They have been very committed to the Pastoral Council with a sense of passion that was clearly evident in their regular attendance at the meetings, constant involvement in the events in the parish and in their own attention to the common good of the Parish Community. I wish to thank them very sincerely for their goodness and time of ministry as PPC members.
Together with the existing members who completed two years (Stephen Busono and William Isele) and one year (Sheila Tartaglia and Didi Molano), I am very happy to welcome Teresa Yannotta, Joe Percoco and Miles London to the new PPC team. Every potential member of the Council attended the “Discernment Retreat” to pray and discern the will of God in the matter of serving the People of God of St. Matthias through the ministry of the Parish Pastoral Council. The PPC assists the pastor on all matters concerning the pastoral life of the parish. The PPC members represent the parishioners, bringing to the Council the concerns and ideas of the community to be discussed and give recommendations to the pastor.
One of the initiatives that the PPC implemented this year was the suggestion box in the narthex to make it easy for the parishioners to communicate their comments and ideas for the good of the parish. The PPC informed our community through bulletin that if anyone wishes to get a response, the name should be given. Interestingly many comments are anonymous expressing an individual’s anger and discontent towards the clergy, to the music ministers, staff members or to something that he/she is unhappy with. I have been very open to suggestions and criticisms, willing to engage anyone who has a grievance. But when someone hides behind anonymity simply to vent their angry feelings in uncivilized words, there is no way to engage that person in an open and meaningful dialog. No matter what, I am happy to hear from our parishioners not only through the suggestion box, which will continue to be there, but also through other ways of communication, including meeting in person.
Today, as we commission the new PPC for 2024-2025, I wish them another year of ministry as a consultative body to the pastor. Let us pray for them and continue to offer them our support. Please congratulate and get to know them so that you can communicate to them the needs and concerns of the Parish.
Your brother in Christ,
Fr. Abraham Orapankal