The bright yellow bloom of the Tabebuia is a sure sign that Easter is upon us and everywhere around Naples this beautiful tree is in full bloom (including our campus right here at St. John the Evangelist). Be sure to enjoy the bloom while you can. The Tabebuia only blooms for about three weeks and will most likely be gone by next weekend. One other sure sign that Easter is upon us is the all too familiar sight of empty “car carriers” arriving in town to load up vehicles to transport back to their summer locations. I have only seen one thus far. Believe it or not “season” is slowly coming to an end, and some of our seasonal residents and visitors are already packing up to begin their trek back north. For those that will remain with us through Easter, we are very excited to share this spiritual time with you. For those who are headed back to the (not so) frozen north, we wish you a safe journey and look forward to seeing you again in the fall.
Did you attend Mass this past Sunday? If so, you were privy to a rare treat as the choir from St. Pius X in Kingston, Jamaica entertained at several of the Masses. This was a great example for those of you who contribute to our sister parish to see first hand the great works your donations are being used to support. In addition, the second collection for our brothers and sisters at St. Pius X was over $25,000.00. On behalf of the Jamaica Outreach Program, thank you for your continued support.
Following their performance at the 5:00 p.m. Mass, members of the St. Pius X choir w
ere treated to a dinner in the library. This was a night of “true stewardship” as a random group of parishioners not affiliated with JOP took time out of their weekend to prepare and serve dinner to our guests from the Caribbean, including the host families who graciously opened up their homes to house these young ladies and gentlemen while in Naples. A special thank you goes out to Bill and Karen Wright, Bob and Norma Claussen, Vince and Kathryn Corbino, Ned and Mary Lou Leibig and Jerry and Shirley Barton for giving of your time and talent in order to provide a special evening for this very deserving group.
It looks as though my begging and pleading has paid off. Depending on when you read my column, we will either be preparing for the Reverse Raffle or celebrating the luck of one or several of our parishioners. As of this past Monday (early bulletin deadline) only 60 tickets remained. Thanks to those of you who stepped up to help us out.
I wasn’t going to mention the Catholic Faith Appeal this week, but then I changed my mind. It seems we have such great momentum going that I didn’t want to interrupt our progress. We are currently just shy of 40% of our goal. If you are a seasonal resident or visitor, please make your check payable to the Catholic Faith Appeal with St. John the Evangelist in the memo line. Thank you in advance for your extreme generosity.
Look who is standing after just turning 10 months old! Ella, Mia and Nate are now able to pull themselves up on anything and everything and are very mobile. They have mastered crawling and will soon be walking. Although this is terrifying news for their mother and father, we are very impressed with the strides they have made in the last several months. It is truly amazing the little personalities they have developed. Mia is extremely laid back, Nate is middle of the road, and Ella is very demanding and high maintenance. A few weeks ago, I brought Nate to Mass and he didn’t make a sound the entire time. The following week I brought Ella and she allowed me to occupy my seat for maybe 10 minutes. I think I will bring Mia this week and see how she does. Attached is a picture of Ella and Nate standing up hanging on to their sister’s saucer. As always, thanks for your thoughts and prayers for our little ones.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager