St. Mark's News & Events for September 16, 2007

Greetings as begin another week!

Now that the football games have started I am beginning to imagine the smell of fall in the air even though it’s still pretty hot out there. As a child I always got excited with the expectation of fall with the leaves changing colors and the summer heat departing from us leading into a cool, life giving freshness. Yet, at the same time, there was always that feeling of melancholy, as we just knew that the winter coldness would soon be upon us. However, since moving to Florida I no longer get that feeling and fall has become a time of rejoicing just knowing that the summer heat will be gone for almost six months! Where are my golf clubs???

I did get the chance to play golf this week at a charity event for Fisher House located across from the VA hospital here in Tampa. Fisher House is a place where families of wounded soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan can stay while their loved one is recuperating in the hospital. The event was held at the scenic golf course at Mac Dill and we all had a wonderful time maneuvering around the golf course for this worthwhile event. I teamed up with parishioner Tony Olivito who has served in the armed forces and is a retired Colonel, and a young man named Jack Egan who is thirteen and is all of fifty pounds soaking wet. I tell you his name because you may see him in the Winter Olympics one day, competing in the Free Style Moguls. I’m not sure what all that means but apparently he’s very good! Yet, what made him even more of a person to remember was his graciousness and maturity for a guy his age. He also is a great golfer and got us out of more than a few troubled spots. Anyway, although we didn’t take home any winnings, the tournament itself helped me to understand Fisher House even more and hopefully earn the support of the rest of the Tampa Bay area.

Also this week we welcome Fr. Len Plazewski, the Director of Vocations for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, who will be speaking about the status of vocations in our diocese and the desire for more workers in the vineyard of Christ. Please listen to his message and pray God will inspire more vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life from St. Mark the Evangelist.

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 September 9, 2007

Greetings as begin another week!

This weekend we are honored to have with us architect, Alberto Portela, who will be conducting a short workshop on “Gathering Spaces” after all the Masses. As many of you know, Alberto was the architect of our current Family Life Center and was instrumental in designing our Master Plan some years ago. This weekend he will enlighten us on his thinking and creativity in following the guidelines of Church Architecture. I hope you will be able to attend this important presentation.

Secondly, I am thrilled with the way many of you are responding financially to our parish and specifically our building fund collection. It just goes to show how much you care about our St. Mark Parish Community and look forward to the day when a new Church graces our property. When we first implemented the second collection, we were worried that it would take away from our offertory but that is not the case. Although the first collection did not increase as much as we would have liked, it did increase over 3% from the previous year. At the same time we have averaged over $14,000 a month in our second collection which has really helped us pay down our debt. You all are WONDERFUL! So as I said, we will discontinue the second collection once the new Capital Campaign for a new Church building commences. Again, my many thanks for allowing me to sleep at night!

This weekend we bid farewell to our Youth Minister, Tracey Blum who has accepted a position teaching at a local high school this year. Tracey has been with us over two years and brought her unique talents and gifts to the youth of St. Mark during her stay. Her bubbling personality will be missed by all of us as she pursues her new adventure. God speed Tracey!

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 September 2, 2007

Greetings as we begin another week! I guess with the start of school, the last gasp of summer vacations have come to St. Mark as the season starts up. Last weekend our youth ministry put on a wonderful picnic (even though the rains came) and a concert which was very well received and of course, LOUD! I now realize I have become my parents complaining about the loudness and style of my music ages ago. However it really was a blast and we have some GREAT teens here at St. Mark who care very much for their Church. Let’s make sure to support them in all their endeavors. On a sad note, Tracey Blum our current Youth Minister will be leaving to go into full time teaching at a local school in early September. Tracey has been with us for two years now and has really moved youth ministry to a new level. However, she will be staying with us on a part-time basis to help with the Confirmation program until a new Youth Minister is hired. We thank Tracey for her wonderful energy, intelligence, and sense of humor as she leaves St. Mark and we pray her continued success in her new path.

Last Saturday we had over 42 people “get on the bus” for a tour of Churches in the Orlando and Winter Park areas in our continued effort to set the ground work for our new Church. We visited three churches that had been built or remodeled in the last five years and we came across some interesting and fascinating designs all patterned with the Liturgical Guidelines for Church Architecture in the 21st Century in mind. We brought back some great ideas and we took pictures of the Churches we visited. We hope to be able to put them on our Website in the near future to give you a look into how Churches are being built in this day and age. We are also hoping to visit more Churches in the near future to obtain even more information and ideas. Check the bulletin for dates and times.

Next week, Alberto Portello will be here to give us a talk on “Gathering Spaces” after all the Masses on September 8th and 9th. This is another opportunity to find out about the Church’s thinking on Liturgical Spaces and I hope educate yourself and ask questions as we being to move forward.

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

Peace,
Fr. David