St. Mark's News & Events for January 28, 2007

Greetings as we begin another week!

As I hope you have noticed driving in here the last few weeks, we
have finally been able to reseal the entrance way and parking lot along
with painting new lines for parking spaces and turning lanes. This
came about due to your wonderful generosity last year to the
offertory collection and the Annual Pastoral Appeal (APA). The
entire operation was done by the company of Gardner-Gibson
Asphalt and its owner, Mr. Ray Hyer, donated the entire product that
went into making this project such a success. On behalf of the
community, I wish to thank Mr. Hyer for his very generous
contribution since he saved us over $6000 from the estimated cost. I
would also like to thank parishioner Kevin McKay who supervised
the entire operation and was the crucial element in making all this
happen! It's amazing what God can do when we all work together
for His good.

Last week, our architect Alberto Portella, explained all the different
committees that will be vital in the planning and construction of our
new Church. After all the masses last week, many of you were able
to get more information about the committees and hopefully signed
up to be part of this important moment of St. Mark's history.
Continue to pray for all of us as we embark on this most wonderful
and scary journey! Stay up-to-date on the latest news on our website
at www.stmarktampa.org and register your email address for email
updates.

Also last Saturday, our parish nurse Kathy DiSanto put together
another successful health fair. All sorts of Doctors, Rehabilitation
specialists, medical supply companies, and health and welfare firms
contributed their time in helping us stay well. I stayed away from the
needle guy who was checking blood sugar levels though.
Congratulations Kathy on another successful event!

Well, that is all for now. Continue to enjoy the gift that God has given
us in each other.

Peace, Fr. David

St. Mark's News & Events for January 21, 2007

What is stewardship?

Stewardship is responding to the LORD's call to be his disciple and
living out that faithful response in our daily lives. Each of us has
been blessed by GOD with certain talents, abilities and resources
that are called to be nurtured and developed for the good of others.
Because GOD has appointed us as stewards, or caretakers, of where
we live, we do not really own or possess anything. We act on behalf
of a loving but just GOD who expects us to render an accounting of
our use of these resources [time, talent and treasure] that have been
entrusted to our care.We are to be grateful for what we have received
and eager to cultivate those gifts out of love for GOD and one
another.

Stewardship is an expression of discipleship, with the power to
change how we understand and live out our lives. Disciples who
practice stewardship recognize GOD as the origin of life, the giver
of freedom, the source of all they have and are and will be. They are
deeply aware of the truth that "The earth is the LORD's and all it
holds, the world and those who live there." [Ps.24:1] They know
themselves to be recipients and caretakers of GOD's many gifts.
They are grateful for what they have received and eager to cultivate
their gifts out of love for GOD and one another.

Stewardship is a way of life embracing all areas of life. It is a central
theme of the Bible, which tells us that we are accountable to GOD
for all the gifts of time, talent and treasure that GOD entrusts to us
for our lifetime. Further, the emphasis is on the personal need of
each one of us to return to GOD a truly grateful portion of our
time, talent and treasure, in thanksgiving for all the good things
GOD has given to us.

St. Mark's News & Events for January 14, 2007

Greetings as we begin another week!

Well, we are finally back to Ordinary Time after all the Advent and
Christmas celebrations that we experienced. Now we can take a small
breather until Lent begins in the middle of February. Last week we
viewed a powerful film on vocations to the Priesthood and Religious
life and I heard wonderful comments on how effective it was for
getting out the message. This week and next week, we welcome
Alberto Portella, the architect of our Family Life Center and Master
Plan, to come and speak to us about the process we will be undergoing
in the building of a new Church for St. Mark the Evangelist. I think
you are going to find these presentations extremely informative and I
hope many of you will decide to take part in this process as we move
forward in our future. Let’s pray that all our hearts will be opened in
promoting vocations and helping to provide a place for God’s Word to
be proclaimed. May God bless us all.

Again, there is no golf to report on this week although I know
exactly what I must do in order to play this dumb game a little better.
There is no short course on improvement so I have to get out there
and just do it! (Humm.., I think I’ve heard that tag line before).
Anyway, I’ll be out there hopefully this week since after Christmas,
all the golf balls are piling up with no woods or lakes to hit them in.

Well, that is all for now. Continue to enjoy the gift that God has given
us in each other.

Peace,
Fr. David

St. Mark's News & Events for January 7, 2007

Greetings as we begin another week!

By now the New Year is in full swing and all the holiday festivities
have come to a close. Im a little exhausted by now as I am sure most
of you are also. I think we need to add more time between Christmas
and New Year so we can catch our breath! Maybe we can move the
New Year to July since thats a pretty low key month and it needs
something to get us out of our summer doldrums. Just a thought!

This weekend we will be celebrating Vocations to the Priesthood and
Religious Life. A powerful film will be shown at all the Masses on the
Priesthood and I sincerely pray that it will promote a young person
to think about serving God in this way. Unfortunately, the film only
speaks of Priesthood but there are a variety of ways in serving God.
The Religious Life is also a profound way of offering service to
Gods people. The work of the Religious in our history has touched
the hearts and souls of countless people and wouldnt it be a blessing
for our parish family to have vocations spring up from our great
parish. Let us pray for these men and women that they may listen to
Gods call in their life in whatever vocation He calls them to and the
courage to say YES LORD!

Well, that is all for now, continue to enjoy the gift that God has given
in each other.

Peace,
Fr. David