2013 ANNUAL CATHOLIC APPEAL PASTOR'S LETTER

Dear Epiphany of Our Lord Parishioners,
As we enter spring and enjoy the nice weather let us pray that we may spend more time in prayer, not only thanking God, but listening to what He has in mind for us.  For we know that God expects great things from us and has great plans for us. 
 
One of the ways in which we can work toward bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth is by assisting the many ministries of the Archdiocese of St. Louis through making a financial donation to the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA). 
 
In my short time here at Epiphany, I have come to appreciate the ACA in a way that I never had before.  I see the parish benefits from the ACA as we are blessed each year to have a seminarian come and assist the parish on Sunday mornings.  We also benefited through having teens from the Office of Youth Ministry’s program called “Project Life” come and spend a week fixing up the convent.  As a parish we also received grants from the ACA that allowed us to do much needed drainage and parking lot repairs. 
 
Personally, I have had the privilege of working closely and seeing the benefit of ACA funded programs like the Respect Life Apostolate, Catholic Family Counseling, and Catholic Charities.
 
Finally, I would like to point out that the ACA pays for a lot of the mundane things that we do not always think about, but at the same time we know are so important.  For example the ACA pays for the Office of Internal Audit which allows each parish to be audited and our finances to be transparent.  I am proud to say that Epiphany has passed its last two audits in the last 5 years with flying colors.  The ACA also pays for the office of human resources which helps me understand complex human resource laws and programs that they did not teach me in the seminary. 
 
I invite each of you to prayerful consider making a donation to the ACA.  Not simply because it is the Catholic thing to do, but because of all the great ministries that the ACA allows the Catholic Church in St. Louis to do.  For more information please go to our parish website www.epiphanystl.org
 
God bless
  
Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
Pastor of Epiphany of Our Lord Parish