My dear Parishioners:
I pray that you and your families are staying healthy and prayerful during this trying time. As we enter Holy Week all of us are being challenged in ways that we have never experienced before. As people of faith it pains us not being able to come to our church and celebrate the Sunday mass, weekday masses, and our regular gatherings and celebrations.
While our church has been closed, I can assure you that together with my staff we have been already reaching out to parishioners. Since the closure, I have made over 150 phone calls to parishioners. I have also been writing daily reflections on our parish website, www.myparish.org as well have recording Sunday Homilies that are on Youtube. Meanwhile, Courtney Strom, our Youth Minister, has been busy reaching out to the youth of our parish. You can learn more in her March 30th post found under “Recent Posts” on www.myparish.org I am now working with Courtney and Tony Marinucci on various ways to expand our outreach to you during the duration of the shutdown of our church.
Not surprisingly, this closure has significantly hurt our parish. For example, if our church had been open over the last three weekends of March, we would have had expected to receive a total of $20,000 in the weekend collections. However, with the closure, we received only $3,700.
In our Parish Finance and Property Committee meeting on Saturday, March 28th, we reviewed a report from our parish accountant. She projected that even after severely “tightening our belts” through salary reductions and temporary leaves of absence for 2 of our staff, if we do not receive your support through your offertory envelopes, we will be short $19,000 per month of being able to cover our costs. (Such costs include utilities, taxes, maintenance, salaries, benefits, etc.) I do recognize some of you are now undergoing serious financial hardships or may have lost your job. However, it is my sincere hope that those of you who are able will continue to support our parish at this time.
So how can you help our parish community in this time of financial challenge?
1) By either mailing your Sunday envelopes to the parish – our address is in the letterhead - or else by dropping off your envelopes through the mail slot beside the parish office door. If you are unable to do either, we can arrange to come and pick it up from you. Please contact us at [email protected] or call the office at 416.621.2732
2) Consider signing up for the Pre Authorized Giving (PAG) programme. This method allows you donate directly to the Parish by a monthly withdrawal on the 20th of each month of an amount you determine. It is then deposited directly into the parish’s bank account. Currently 74 parishioners are using this method. If you would like more information or obtain a form to enroll, please email us at [email protected]
3) You can also give to the parish online using your credit card. If you go to www.myparish.org, you will find near the top centre of the homepage a button marked “Donate”. Click on it, and once in you can scroll down the parish list to our parish, Nativity of Our Lord. You can then determine which day you would like to donate, as well as give to the parish offertory or building fund. This programme has been found helpful by many parishioners.
Finally, I thank you for being a part of our parish and for the way you have supported it in the past. As a community of faith, we look forward to gathering again when this crisis is over. Until then, let us be supportive and prayerful of one another.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Michael Machacek,
Pastor, Nativity of Our Lord Parish
Update:
March 24, 2020
My Dear Parishioners of Nativity of Our Lord Parish:
In order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and so as to comply with the Government of Ontario’s new regulations requiring that all non-essential workplaces be closed, I am sorry to inform you that per the directive issued today by Thomas Cardinal Collins, the Archbishop of Toronto, for all parishes of the Archdiocese, including our own, the church and the parish office must remain closed until further notice. Please note that you can drop off your offertory envelopes through the mail slot located to the left of the parish office door.
This is a deeply painful, but necessary, decision for our faith community.
However, I am still here for you during this difficult time. You can still leave a voicemail at the parish office: 416.621.2732, or you can email us at: [email protected] I will return your message as soon as possible.
Please continue to visit our parish website www.myparish.org for my daily spiritual reflections based on the readings of the mass of the day, Sunday homilies and other helpful links. I also invite you to visit www.archtoronto.org/covid19 for updated information from the Archdiocese of Toronto and for links to view the Daily Mass online.
For our youth, Courtney Strom, our Youth Minister, invites you to follow us on Instagram @nativityym and check our website www.nativityym.com for some suggested Apps, websites, Youtube channels and music. We will be hosting virtual gatherings for the you during this time, so stay tuned. For more information, contact Courtney at [email protected]
If you wish to read my 1st letter/update to the parish on March 18th, go to
https://myparish.org/post/5e728eb0660ec30060c5251b
Finally, please continue to pray for those sick and those caring for them. Be assured of my daily prayers for you.
I will have another update for you by the beginning of next week at the latest.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Michael Machacek,
Pastor,
Nativity of Our Lord Parish.
Pastor, Nativity of Our Lord Parish
Fr. Michael Machacek,
Yours in Christ,
Finally, I thank you for being a part of our parish and for the way you have supported it in the past. As a community of faith, we look forward to gathering again when this crisis is over. Until then, let us be supportive and prayerful of one another.
3) You can also give to the parish online using your credit card. If you go to www.myparish.org, you will find near the top centre of the homepage a button marked “Donate”. Click on it, and once in you can scroll down the parish list to our parish. You can then determine which day you would like to donate, as well as give to the parish offertory or building fund. This programme has been found helpful by many parishioners.
2) Consider signing up for the Pre Authorized Giving (PAG) programme. This method allows you donate directly to the Parish by a monthly withdrawal on the 20th of each month of an amount you determine. It is then deposited directly into the parish’s bank account. Currently 67 parishioners are using this method. If you would like more information or obtain a form to enroll, please email us at [email protected]
1) By either mailing your Sunday envelopes to the parish – our address is in the letterhead - or else by dropping off your envelopes through the mail slot beside the parish office door. If you are unable to do either, we can arrange to come and pick it up from you. Please contact us at [email protected] or call the office at 416.621.2732
So how can you help our parish community in this time of financial challenge?
In our Parish Finance and Property Committee meeting on Saturday, March 28th, we reviewed a report from our parish accountant. She projected that even after severely “tightening our belts” through salary reductions and temporary leaves of absence for 2 of our staff, if we do not receive your support through your offertory envelopes, we will be short $19,000 per month of being able to cover our costs. (Such costs include utilities, taxes, maintenance, salaries, benefits, etc.) I do recognize some of you are now undergoing serious financial hardships or may have lost your job. However, it is my sincere hope that those of you who are able will continue to support our parish at this time.
Not surprisingly, this closure has significantly hurt our parish. For example, if our church had been open over the last three weekends of March, we would have had expected to receive a total of $20,000 in the weekend collections. However, with the closure, we received only $3,700.
While our church has been closed, I can assure you that together with my staff we have been already reaching out to parishioners. Since the closure, I have made over 150 phone calls to parishioners. I have also been writing daily reflections on our parish website, www.myparish.org as well have recording Sunday Homilies that are on Youtube. Meanwhile, Courtney Storm, our Youth Minister, has been busy reaching out to the youth of our parish. You can learn more in her March 30th post found under “Recent Posts” on www.myparish.org I am now working with Courtney and Tony Marinucci on various ways to expand our outreach to you during the duration of the shutdown of our church.
I pray that you and your families are staying healthy and prayerful during this trying time. As we enter Holy Week all of us are being challenged in ways that we have never experienced before. As people of faith it pains us not being able to come to our church and celebrate the Sunday mass, weekday masses, and our regular gatherings and celebrations.
My dear Parishioners: