Meet You At The Fair

At our last parish committee meeting, one of the member's makes the statement that she bought a "table at the fair." What table? The Wyoming County Fair is an old fashioned 4H event. It features the young farmers of the future who have raised their animals to show at the fair. So it would be a great opportunity to let the people in the county know that a Catholic parish in North Java welcomes all to join their faith community. A Catholic Parish reaching out to the local people at a county fair. My God, how unique and creative is that.

The next step is to create the handouts that describe the parish and its various ministries to the community. So there is a handout about the parish, another flyer about the childrens' "Sunday School" religion program, an invitation to come and use the newly renovated parish hall for a family gathering, community event or organization meeting or a class on "scrapebooking." Let's not forget the Powerpoint with over 50 photos that shows all the happy smiles with people celebrating the sacraments, spaghetti dinners and coffee hours. Then there's this banner and the invitation last Sunday in church for everyone to personally sign their name inviting everyone to come and see the Lord at our altar. This is awesome. But there's more and last night was the icing on the cake.

On Wednesday night, the County Fair holds an auction for the 4H animals at the show. The people of Holy Family made the decision to bid on a pig that was raised by one of our newly confimed students. I'm sitting next to Bob who not only bid on the pig but won the prize with the highest bid. The parish will donate this little piggy to Angel Action, the local community action group that helps the poor in Wyoming County. This photo shows Zack and his prize pig. AWESOME AND BEAUTIFUL!

One last note, you are invited to come to the Wyoming County Fair that is held in the Town of Pike on Route 19. Come see our booth and meet all the wonderful people of Holy Family. All are welcomed and we really mean it. God bless you all for your generosity and creative ways of making the spirit of Jesus alive and present in this beautiful community. Come join us any Sunday to pray and celebrate Mass at 10AM. See You All Soon. Final note, I want to thank the Holy Family Committee members for supporting this evangelization project and a special thanks to all the volunteers who generously shared their time and faith. My humble gratitude and prayers. Fr. Matt 

"Today's Sonshine " is a spiritual reflection authored by Fr. Matt started in 2000. He has written over 800 reflections in the past 14 years and features hundreds of photographs that he has taken that complement each reflection. If you would like to receive "Today's Sonshine," forward your email address to: drmattkawiak@gmail.com