NINE DAYS OF PRAYER, PENANCE AND PILGRIMAGE

Churches in the United States observe Respect Life Sunday this Sunday, January 19, 2014, marking the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973. Roman Catholic and Orthodox bishops in the United States ask the faithful to join in Nine days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage to end abortion. This Novena can be observed privately or collectively. It is also a spiritual support for the March for Life on Washington, held this year on January 22.

The bishops have published a Novena Booklet, which can be downloaded from http://is.gd/egotof
You can also ask Rita Bell (roseritabell@yahoo.com) or Fr. Bob (fr.bob.nativity@gmail.com, 952-290-6767) for a copy.
Here is more information from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

PRAYER SERVICE ON JANUARY 26 AT 1:00 P.M.

St. Francis Xavier and Nativity of Our Lady will hold a PRAYER SERVICE FOR LIFE on Sunday, January 26 at 1:00 p.m. in SFX church. Please join us as we ask the God of Life to help us nurture a culture based on a true respect for life.

(The prayer service is organized by the St. Francis Xavier/Nativity of Our Lady Culture of Life Group in keeping with the guidelines set by the U.S. Bishops Conference.)

The Diocese of Savannah is trying to improve its stewardship of resources. As part of this, several parishes and Catholic schools will be audited each year. Nativity of Our Lady was one of the first to be looked at by the new diocesan team, together with St. Francis Xavier Parish and St. Francis Xavier Catholic School in Brunswick.

The auditing team spent three days in August in Darien, looking over everything. They spent several weeks in Brunswick, where most of Nativity's records are stored.  This was a "structural and procedural audit", looking at how we do things. The Draft Report was sent to the Finance Council on December 18. The Council held an initial meeting on December 19 with Mr. Jon Bokina, Diocesan Audit Manager. We have held several meetings since.

Here are some highlights from the report.

The audit made many concrete suggestions. The diocese suggests, among other things, that:

• We look at using an envelope system for the collection
• We improve the security of how we handle the collection after Mass
• We streamline the way we do the counting on Monday
• We make a three year plan (extended budget)
• The Finance Council look at all Letters of Employment and ensure compliance with all laws and policies
• Written policies be developed and published

In the coming weeks, the Finance Council volunteers will be working extra hard to digest the audit report, write our response and implement any improvements. We will present a much better picture of things at the Nativity Town Hall Meeting on February 15.

The Finance Council