Sisters and Brothers,
Happy Wednesday everyone!
I felt so blessed on Easter Sunday when many of you came out to see the Risen Lord and received blessings in person. Your thirst for Him is inspiring. It was a double blessing to have the beautiful weather he had! God was indeed smiling on us all.
We are thinking about having more outdoor expositions of our Lord in the future should our current situation continue.
Online Donations
We have continued to receive messages from our people wanting to know how to continue to make the weekly offering so as to help in keeping up the life of the parish, payment of bills and other things. We are deeply grateful to all who have dropped off donations in our secure mail box located in front of the parish office. Thank you.
In addition to the mailbox, we have another alternative. We have completed the setup and testing of our new online donation system. We are happy to share with you that we have partnered with CanadaHelps.org to facilitate the donations to our Parishes over the Internet. CanadaHelps is:
- Trusted by Canadians and charities for over 19 years.
- Helping more than 20,000 charities.
- Supporting almost 2 million Canadians donate to charities.
- Proud to have raised over $1 billion in donations.
- Self-funded, using just 1.8% of donation revenues to fulfill our mission.
General information about different ways to give to our Parishes can be found in the Giving to Our Parish page.
These are difficult times. Know that we are praying for you every day at Mass. We are also praying for those in our community who are suffering through job loss, closure of a business, or even the impacts of physical isolation. If you are one of those struggling to make ends meet, our sincere prayer is that Jesus may make a way for you. We are thinking about you.
Staying in Touch
Our Lenten and Holy Week journey this year was surely unique. I think many of us wondered how we would approach Easter if we could not be together physically in our churches to be fed by the Word of God and the Holy Eucharist.
We’ve been trying very hard to communicate and connect with our Parish community in a variety of new ways. I just want to remind everyone of the choices you have for receiving information from us, especially since many of you are used to getting most of your news on a weekly basis through the bulletin which we cannot produce for now or the foreseeable future.
Our Website (https://catholicpenticton.org): This is the primary place to find information. If you’re wondering when Mass, or another event, is being streamed and how to connect, go into the Events section of the website. You’ll also find links to our YouTube channel to view past events. On the main page of the website you’ll find news, posts, and other information. So, if we have something to say, it goes on the website first. After it’s posted there, then we consider other avenues of communication to support or promote it.
Email Communication List: If you received this email then you’re already signed up. Thank you. If you know someone that hasn’t signed up yet, then send them to our Get Connected! page on the website to fill out the form. We generally send emails out to highlight important messages and point people to places on the website where they can get more details.
Facebook: If you’re a Facebook user then you may want to consider joining our Facebook group. We have almost 250 members now! The group is intended to help Parishioners, past, present or potential, to connect with each other and share. It is a more informal, conversational way to connect with others in our community. If you request membership, Facebook will ask you to answer a few questions. We review every membership request to see if the person answered them and use that to evaluate the request to join. If you’re interested, search Facebook groups for “Catholic Parishes Penticton”.
So, what if you want to contact the Parish?
Email: If you have questions or comments that you feel comfortable putting in an email then send it to sajpastor@telus.net
Telephone: I can be reached in my office at (250) 492-3162.
Facebook: Connect with me on Facebook! Then we can chat over Messenger, too. Just search for “Obiora Ibekwe Sylvester”.
Outreach
Do you know others that are struggling to stay informed about our Parish activities? Perhaps you could forward this email to them or phone them and, if they need it, help them understand how to stay connected. This is also the perfect opportunity to ask them how they’re doing. Do they need anything, like groceries? Call me, or ask them to call me, to discuss how I can help.
I ask for your continued support, prayers and patience as we move forward with various endeavours, during this difficult time.
Fr. Harry and I are grateful for your continued prayers.
We miss you. God bless you.
Your brother,
Fr. Obi