Charitable Works Fund

Thank you to everybody who has donated to the Charitable Works Fund this year. When we started our final appeal for this financial year a couple of weeks ago we were $36,000 short of our quota, since then we have received a further $9,000 in donations. As you can see we still have a bit to do to reach our quota. If you wish to make a donation to the Charitable Works Fund it can be made anytime via the envelopes available in the church or the parish office. Please put your donation envelope on the collection plate or hand it in to the parish office. Donations are 100% tax deductable and any donations made prior to June 28 will be claimable for the current financial year.

Planned Giving Envelopes

From Wednesday 12 June the new financial year’s Planned Giving envelopes will be available for collection at both churches. If your envelopes are not in the church please call the parish office and leave your name and tell us which church you would like to collect your envelopes from. We thank all those who make a financial contribution to our parish. If you would like to join the Planned Giving program please contact the parish office.

Don’t forget that donations to the Charitable Works Fund can be made anytime via the envelopes available in the church or the parish office. Please put your donation envelope on the collection plate or hand it in to the parish office. Donations are 100% tax deductable.

If you would like to receive your end of year receipt electronically and you don’t currently receive In Touch via email, we don’t have your email address. If this is the case please contact the office with your email address. If we don’t have your email address a paper copy of your receipt will be available from the Church foyer in mid-July as per previous years.  Chris Burrows

This weekend marks the third and final appeal for the financial year to the Charitable Works Fund (CWF). Envelopes for donations are attached to this week’s bulletin and are also available in the foyer of the Church. They can be left on the collection plate or at the office.

As the figures below show we are well short of our quota and have a long way to go before we even match the amounts donated in previous years. In the event there is a shortfall between our quota and the amount donated by parishioners, as has been the case in the last few years, the shortfall has to be made up from general parish funds (the second collection) so your generosity would be appreciated.

Donations to the CWF are 100% tax deductable. If you have not yet made a contribution or might be considering a further contribution any donation received prior to June 28 will be deductable this financial year.

This weekend marks the end of National Volunteers’ Week. Our parish runs on volunteers and I’m sure during our November “Call to Ministry” you have seen the many, many tasks performed by our volunteers. On behalf of the priests, staff and parishioners I would like to thank everybody who has taken time to lend a hand in the parish during the last 12 months. Next time you see one of our volunteers stop and say thanks, let them know how much we appreciate them and the work they do for all of us.

Thank you to those parishioners who have contributed to this year's Charitable Works Fund (CWF). Donations to CWF are fully tax deductible and envelopes are available in the church foyer or parish office.

The CWF is a centralised fund for the support of charitable and pastoral activities of the Diocese that extend beyond the limits of any single parish. Funds for the CWF are raised by bequests, public donations, and an assessed amount for each parish. There are three special collections in the parishes each year to enable them to raise funds towards their assessment.

The 3^rd and final collection for this financial year will be held on the weekend of 25/26 May.   Chris Burrows

During Mass this month you may see someone at the back of the Church counting heads. It is for the annual National Attendance Count and during May all Catholic churches are requested to count the attendance numbers at every regular weekend Mass.

With Easter now a month behind us it is time to send the last of the Project Compassion money to Caritas. We would like any donations for Caritas that have not been handed in to be brought in during the next week. On behalf of Caritas Australia thank you to everybody who has contributed to this year’s campaign. Chris Burrows

End of Financial Year Receipts

Last July for the first time, receipts for the financial year for everybody who contributed to the Planned Giving, Caritas or Charitable Works Fund via the parish, were sent by email where we had an email address. This July we will be sending them again. If you don’t currently receive In Touch via email, we won’t have your email address. If this is the case and you would like to receive your receipt electronically, please contact the office with your email address. Where we don’t have your email address a paper copy of your receipt will be available from the Church foyer in Mid-July as per previous years.  Chris Burrows

Work at St Kieran’s has been focused outside the Church during the last week. We have raised the height of a section of the walkway between the Church and the Priory to allow easier entry to the toilets. Unfortunately these amenities do not allow for disabled access however facilities are available in the Parish Centre. Inside the church final touches are being added to the font, which was used last weekend for the first time in many years.

The Sisters of St Joseph collect used stamps which they sort, trim and sell to help fund their work in Peru. Recently the parish office was given a box of used stamps by a parishioner who had organised for them to be collected from her office mail. I’m sure lots of us could arrange for the stamps on any incoming mail in our workplace be kept for donating to the Sisters in Peru. There is a box in the foyer of the Church to place stamps in.

A reminder that if you still have not handed in your Project Compassion Box it can be put on the collection plate at Mass or handed in at the Parish office.

The long discussed plans for the renovation work at St Kieran’s Church are moving closer to fruition and the original baptismal font restored, replacing the temporary movable font. There will however be no further significant change for some time until the final plans are submitted and approved by the Diocese. This will eventually include a wider side entrance, a new Reconciliation Room and hopefully a more efficient use of our interior space. Some attention is also being given to cooling the church in the height of Summer.

With Easter now behind us the renovation of St Kieran’s Church has begun. As we mentioned last week work has started in the entrance with the careful removal of the old font. The plan is to use it as the basis for a new font within the altar space. Over the coming week we hope to start work around the altar space, this will necessitate some rearranging of the Priest’s chair, ambo and lectern during the construction of the new font. We hope to keep the disruptions to a minimum but it is likely some of the weekday Masses during this week will need to be celebrated in the Chapel.

If you still have not handed in your Project Compassion Box they can be put on the collection plate at Mass or handed in to Parish office.

Chris Burrows

Easter Giving Envelopes

Easter Dues have been a tradition in the Church for some centuries, probably following the custom of giving gifts to each other on these great feasts.

Fr Pat explains “Like yourselves, the community ministering to you has extra obligations at this time, such as more needy to take care of. There is no obligation to contribute to the Easter Dues but our Augustinian community is grateful for anything which may be donated.  For a community such as ours, these are also opportunities to send extra donations to the Central Fund of the Province which takes care of the needs of all the Province, including the sick Augustinians, as well as attending to needs and education of the students studying to become Augustinian Priests.”

For those of us who don’t use the planned giving envelopes but would like to contribute a little something extra to the Priory at Easter, envelopes are available in the Church foyer.

Lost Property

The office has a lost property box and currently there is a lot of clothing, glasses and assorted items left from the last 12 months. If you have left something behind at Church or the parish centre would you please collect it by the end of February. Anything that remains after that will be donated to Vinnies.   Chris Burrows

The Parish office will close from 4:00 pm Christmas Eve and reopen Tuesday January 29. We will be checking the parish email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and the answering machine during this period. If you need to urgently contact a priest, call the office on 9949 4455 and, when the automated system directs you, press 2 to get the list of extensions then 3 for Fr Senan Ward.

On behalf of parishioners and staff I would like to thank the band of helpers who regularly assist us with administrative tasks in the Parish. Whether it is in the main office, my office, the library, or one of the many other jobs that just get done, the staff always appreciate a helping hand to lighten the load.

Still looking for that last minute something for Christmas? We have a few Bibles, the Parish CD and Christmas cards available for sale. All the money raised from these items go to worthy causes.

Everybody will have seen the article in In Touch about the fundraising for the new thurible. While the thurible has been delivered and paid for the book sale has continued and the team of young parishioners doing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards have raised a further $221. This time they decided to donate the money to the St Vincent de Paul Christmas appeal and have handed the money over to the Balgowlah conference. If you would like to donate to the Christmas Appeal and haven’t yet picked up an envelope they are available in the Church foyer and the office.

Last year Fr Pat very kindly wrote a few words about Christmas and Easter dues and it is perhaps timely to share them with you again.

CHRISTMAS AND EASTER DUES

The word “dues” is not applicable here, since the word “due” seems to imply “obligation”.  There is no obligation to donate to the Christmas and Easter Dues.  They have been a tradition in the Church for some centuries, probably following the custom of giving gifts to each other on these great feasts.

Last week we finalised and delivered the envelopes collected for the recent Catholic Mission appeal. The envelopes and receipts are processed by the Catholic Mission office and not the parish. All credit card and cheque donations should be processed over the next week or two. As a parish we raised over $5,000 and I’m sure the folk at Catholic Mission would like me to thank all those who gave to this appeal. If you would still like to give Catholic Mission accept donations on line at http://www.catholicmission.org.au/

Thank you to everybody who has donated to this year’s second Charitable Works Fund. If you haven’t made a donation yet and wish to do so envelopes are available in the Church foyer or the parish office.

On behalf of the parish I would like to thank our team of volunteers who count the Church collections each week. To make their job a bit easier and less stressful I would ask if everybody using the envelope system could ensure the amount of their donation is written in the space provided and ensure the envelope is sealed. Chris Burrows

Attached to this week’s bulletins are the Charitable Works Funds (CWF) envelopes for the second appeal of the year. Envelopes are also available in the Church foyer and parish office; all donations are 100% tax deductable.

The money raised by the CWF is used to support many charitable organisations in the Diocese including the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, St Lucy’s School, St Edmond’s School, Ephpheta Centre and Centrecare Broken Bay. During the August collection period we looked at two of the organisations supported by the CWF, last week we looked at St Edmund’s School, today it is the Ephpheta Centre and once again I have turned to their website to provide the best description of what they do.

Attached to the bulletin next week will be the envelopes for the second Charitable Works Fund (CWF) appeal for the year. The CWF is a centralised fund for the support of charitable and pastoral activities of the Diocese that extend beyond the limits of any single parish. The funds are raised by bequests, public donations and a quota for each parish. There are three CWF collections in the parish each year to enable us to raise funds towards our quota. Donations to the CWF are fully tax-deductible.

Last year I asked Fr Pat to write an article about the November Mass envelopes, I haven’t seen anything that explains it better so it’s worth running again.

Thanks Fr Pat.        Chris Burrows

November Dead List

From the earliest times in the Church’s history, the month of November has been dedicated to the souls in Purgatory.  This began when November 2nd was designated as the day on which we pray particularly for this intention.