Dear Parishioners,

Thanksgiving is this Thursday, November 25. We will have two Masses that day: English at 9:30 a.m. and Latin at 11:00 a.m.We have much to be thankful for in our families, our country, and our Church. I have always wondered why Thanksgiving Day could not be a holyday of obligation in the U.S. It is a perfect day to begin with Mass before we gather with our families and friends to give thanks to God for all of our blessings. Please plan to attend Mass on Thanksgiving Day.As I begin my letter this week, let me bring to your attention THE PARISH STEWARDSHIP CARDS!PLEASE! If you have not turned in your commitment card, please do so this week. We want a prayerful response from everyone. The phone committee of the parish council will call those we do not hear from. So, if everyone turns their card in, it will save lots of work. As I said last weekend, if you cannot participate at this time mark it "$-0-." That way we know that you saw the card and made your own prayerful decision.Be sure to mark both top and bottom of the card in reference to your financial gifts. This is a bit confusing. Some have already turned their cards in and not marked the bottom, even with a zero (-0-). We will need to contact them again to make sure we understand their intention. Although the card is perforated, do not separate the card. We will do this in the parish office.Again, we ask that everyone turn in his or her card as soon as possible. We would like to get things together on our Stewardship Campaign and United Catholic Appeal before the end of November.The Parish Council met last Tuesday. We again discussed the roof—where, O where, are the roofing people? They promise to be here by this Tuesday. We shall see. I regret that they have missed so many ideal days to work on the church roof. Pray also for the safety of the workers. As I said last week, I am concerned at what they will find when they remove the old roof. Heaven only knows what the condition of the boards underneath the roof might be.Also at the Council meeting, Gus Stinnett gave us an update on the elevator project. Bernie Greene, our business manger, updated us on our Parish Stewardship and United Catholic Appeal.We are also working with Central Catholic School on a projected budget deficit for next year. It’s not an operating deficit. It is a cost over run and miscalculation of interest on the loan that enabled us to remodel the school building a few years ago. We share in this concern with Good Shepherd, Sacred Heart, and Saint Patrick Parishes.It was actually a short meeting; less than an hour this month. (Compared to about four hours when we made plans for the roof.) Our next Parish Council meeting will be Thursday, January 6, 2000, at 7:00 p.m. Just think—Holy Rosary Parish has had its last Parish Council meeting of the millennium!Our "Giving Tree" project for Advent begins this weekend. Marie Pittman-Oechsle is again taking charge of this for us, another example of parish stewardship of time and talent. Marie will explain again how this project works this weekend.Next weekend, we begin the Season of Advent. It’s our four-week preparation time for the great Feast of Christmas.One of the Advent themes is waiting. What can we do in terms of that theme—waiting?We can be more patient when we must wait—in traffic, in line at the store, theater, or restaurant. We can wait until Mass is completely over before we head out the door. Those who leave Mass early save very little time when it comes right down to it.We can wait an extra second or two before we open our mouth sometimes. It sure can help us keep from saying certain things we might regret later.Just some ideas. Think about these and some more on your own. And don’t forget, Advent is one of those times when we should approach the Sacrament of Penance. Confession before Christmas is the perfect way to prepare.

Sincerely yours in God's Providence,
Rev. Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel