Hello everyone and thank you for your patience this morning. I promise to only take a few moments of your time today.

Do any of you miss the Sunday morning coffee and donuts?
Have you noticed any new or unfamiliar faces -- Would you like to meet fellow parishioners?
Do you wonder where our parish is headed?  Recently we all received a letter or perhaps heard Father speak about the status of our parish. Did you wonder how you could help?

A few of us got to talking and realized these questions will not get answered on their own and would like to help. In my family, I always heard growing up that "many hands make light work" and that is just as true in our parish family.

We have 960 families in this parish. Do you know that if each parish family could bring just 2 old ink or toner cartridges a month, we could erase the deficit Father mentioned?  Many of us throw them away--it's money from our trash. Maybe you don’t use these but could ask at work or another small business. We asked just 2 places and they sent a box full already.

Do you realize how profitable buying Scrip can be for St. Cecilia’s …and it doesn’t cost you anything  If each parish family purchases just $150 in store certificates each month, we can erase that deficit? There is no cost to us; you can buy as little as $25 at a time in certificates toward your normal shopping and the parish gets a percentage back.  If you are already purchasing from the school, please continue to do so but we know that many parish families are not doing this and we would like to offer that opportunity here as well.

Wouldn’t it be fun to meet some of your fellow parishioners and enjoy a nice dinner at the same time? We get to eat out, meet others and support our parish. It's a win-win situation. With a little help, we could schedule social events, doughnuts after mass, egg hunts and a variety of other activities for our parish family.

 Now of course we realize that not every family can do each of these things each month but by offering choices, we hope to find something everyone can do. We have many more ideas but what we can't do is do it alone -- we need your help. We're asking everyone to consider pledging just two hours of your time to the parish.

Maybe you can help with the donuts or man a table after mass or make some calls from home one day or run a craft for some children or deliver a meal to someone who is sick or participate in a book club. The possibilities are endless.

We have a pledge form at the back of church after mass and we ask each of you to take one and fill it out. Even if you can't pledge two hours at this time, please take a form and fill out the survey part. We would like to know what groups and activities you want to see at our parish. We have recently added a parish website and will be posting parish needs and activities there. Visit frequently to see how you can help or join the email list to receive updates.

Finally, what fun is a new initiative without a kickoff? We would like to announce our first social/fundraising activity. We are hosting St. Cecilia's day at Houlihan's in Exton. You just pick up a certificate in the back of church or print one out from the parish website and give it to your server when you go to eat. This is a fundraiser and St. Cecilia's will receive a percentage back from your bill. You can go anytime during the day or join us in the private room at 6:30 and meet some fellow parishioners. We'll be doing this October 23rd and November 6th and hope to sponsor one event like this each month. Please join us for some food and fun and support the parish at the same time!

We can do great things together but we need your help. Offer your parish family just 2 hours on any one of a variety of projects or make suggestions for things you would like to see.

All of this reminds me of a joke. I had an encounter with God recently. I was having some difficult times and it was getting tough to pay the bills and I said "God, please let me win the lottery. It doesn't have to be the whole jackpot but a something" and nothing happened. A few weeks went by and gas prices were going up and business wasn't doing well and I said again "God, please let me win the lottery. It would really help" Again nothing. Finally a few weeks later, things were really bad and even groceries for dinner were outside the budget. I said "God, please let me win the lottery. I really need help.  Why aren't you answering me?" Suddenly there was a loud voice from the heavens "Honey, you have to work with me on this -- Buy a ticket!"
So sometimes, despite what Disney tells us--wishing will not make it so and even prayer alone isn't enough. We need to take just a small step and buy the ticket or in our case pledge just 2 hours. 

Once, a wise man was bemoaning the fact that so much is wrong with the world today and his friend asked him “Why don’t you ask God why He doesn’t do something about it. The wise man replied “I am afraid He will ask me the same.”

Thank you