Thoughts From Fr. Bob

January 22, 2012 - The New Year has brought record crowds to St. Agnes. We're pleased to see so many of our seasonal parishioners back and some new faces among the familiar ones. Our weekend Mass attendance so far in January is actually above last year's February numbers. And last year we saw a 15-20% jump from January to February. If that holds true this year, we will be overcrowded at our most popular Masses. The 4:00 vigil, 9:00 and 11:00 Sunday Masses are presently at overflow levels. It's a good problem to have, and to alleviate frustration and discomfort on your part, we have a few suggestions:

• Consider attending the 4:30 Saturday Mass at the Parish Center if you favor a Saturday Mass, or 7:30 am or 5:00 pm Mass in church on Sunday to avoid the biggest crowds.
• Park in the west lot (closest to the intersection of Vanderbilt Beach Rd. and Collier Blvd.) for easier departure after Mass. People tend to overfill the east lot while there are still plenty of spaces to the west of church.
• If you park in the Parish Center lot, be safe and do not to cross through the construction zone cordoned off by the yellow plastic tape.
• Do your best to come early to allow for traffic and spend a little time in prayer prior to Mass which will make the seating process easier on you and our ushers.
• Stay to the conclusion of Mass and beyond to pray for a bit in church, light a candle in our new prayer chapel off the narthex, or if it's on a Sunday morning, enjoy donuts and coffee and mixing with your fellow parishioners until the traffic dissipates to get the most out of the time you offer to our Lord.
  

It's clearly going to take a little extra patience from all of us to maintain the friendly spirit that brings us to St. Agnes in the first place, and I have faith that we can do it with your cooperation.

I'm pleased to report that Msgr. Coll is back on duty after some heart procedures kept him sidelined for a while in December. Deacon Virgil is recovering from a mild heart attack he suffered two weeks ago and is getting better after a few day hospital stay. At age 96, he still amazes me! Please remember them in your prayers.

Thanks to all of you who made our 2011 Christmas Collection the biggest ever. More than $140,000 came in to reduce our debt. I want to finally thank all of you who made my 50th Birthday on December 23rd and Christmas so special! The busyness of the parish and all that is happening here prevented me from getting Christmas cards out as I would have liked, and has delayed the thank you cards that have been on my "to-do" list since then!

Please bear with me and our other priests and staff during this most busy season. We have our hands full with so much we're trying to undertake for Christ at St. Agnes. With a road/walkway construction project underway, a larger number of organizations, events and families to serve, pre-planning complete for this year's Catholic Faith Appeal, and a Capital Campaign gearing up to pay for our Parish Center and reduce our existing debt, it's going to be an incredible 2012. Together may we never lose sight that we do it all for Christ, and treat each other with kindness and love in the process!

Father Bob