Co-Redemptorists

Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,

I pray that you are safe and well. I first want to thank everyone who participated, or tried to participate, in our fundraiser with Licari’s. When I spoke to them about 1:00 they told me that it was already their busiest Sunday in a long time and they already had a stack of dinner orders. In fact, they received so many orders, they could not fulfill all of them. They even extended the fundraiser through the next day. For those who were unable to place an order, I am sorry for any frustration that may have caused to your dinner plans, but I am very grateful that so many people wanted to participate in the fundraiser. Once we know the amount, we will let you know. In the mean time, I am sure it was a big help to Licari’s (which as we said, is owned by parishioners) and that was also part of our goal. I have been talking with the staff about ways we can identify and promote other parishioner owned businesses.

Talking about fundraisers, we have some people knocking on our door as well. The first of these will be this Sunday and next: Co-Redemptorist. I am sure if you have been at St. Alphonsus for any length of time at all you have heard of Co-Redemptorists. If not, this is a group of people who make a weekly, monthly or annual pledge to help support our Redemptorist seminarians. When it was started it was something like $1.65 and that was suppose to be what was needed to feed a seminarian. Needless to say, you can’t feed a bird for that amount these days. This group continues to be a major contributor to support our seminarians. And so, we will have pledge cards in the pews and the rear of church for the next couple of Sundays. You can fill them out and drop them in the collection box in the rear of church. If you are already a member, you should have already been contacted to see if you are able and willing to renew. I just want to thank all of you who have supported this over the years.

One of the things that makes St. Alphonsus special is the community of Redemptorists stationed here. Even though they are not all assigned to work in the parish, they nevertheless help out and become part of the life of the parish. With the shortage of vocations we are very blessed to have seminarians and many of them would not be able to afford a college and graduate school education without the assistance we are able to give them, and a big part of that assistance comes from Co-Redemptorists.

Speaking of seminarians, this summer we will have a few more join us like they did last year. While they did not get to do as much as they had wanted, due to the pandemic, we are hoping that this summer will give them more opportunities. We are not sure who or how many will be with us, but Fr. Chung has already started making plans. Whether you can help support them financially or not, please do support them with your prayers. When I was in the seminary, knowing that I had so many people praying for me was a big help, especially during those difficult phases of discernment that every seminarian goes through.

“May the Holy Spirit strengthen and nourish these young men in body and spirit, that they might confidently answer God’s call to come into the vineyard and reap a rich harvest for our God.”

In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick