Entries for September 2026

Dear Parishioners:

This week as we celebrate Stewardship Sunday in our Archdiocese I want to begin by Thank You! Those two words might be the most important words we speak each day. They evoke an understanding and awareness that we have been blessed by our God and others. Think about that for a minute. What did you thank God for yesterday? Did you thank God for your family and friends, your health, your home, your job or livelihood? Did you thank God for the gift of faith or the abundant love that he showers upon you each day?

Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts.

Stewardship isn’t a process, or a campaign, or an accounting of our gifts. Rather, it is a lifestyle rooted in gratitude and generosity.

The whole point of stewardship is to help each other strengthen our relationship with God and get to Heaven! The foundation of stewardship is prayer – talking and listening to God every day, throughout the day.

Stewardship means putting complete trust in God, in all things. Stewardship means sharing all of our gifts, especially that one that means the most to you.

By sharing all of our gifts, it helps us keep God first in everything, from putting other “gods” before God. It helps us live “God-centered” lives and not “self-centered” lives.

Of all the gifts that God gives us, the one he wants the most is our heart. He wants us to share out of love, not out of obligation. When we align our thoughts and actions with God’s plan and use our gifts in the way God intended, our lives become transformed with Joy, Love, Mercy and Peace!

Again thank you, by your monetary contributions and the sharing of your gifts and talents with our parish community, you have helped to share the joy and peace of Christ always and everywhere.

Gratefully yours in Christ,
Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

                         "Do not neglect to show hospitality, for by that means some have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13: 1, 2)

The Ministry of Hospitality is at the gateway to our community here at The Church of the Annunziata.  Ministers of Hospitality set the tone of welcome and help to create a sense that "something important is happening" as the parish community, gathers for worship. Our primary task is to honor the dignity of each member of the Body and encourage a sense of belonging within the assembly. By efficiently taking care of our ministerial tasks, we allow people to feel at home.

The way we greet neighbors and visitors speaks volumes about our faith and our community.  Every Sunday I meet people who are visiting our Church from out of town.  They all love the beauty of our Church, but the beauty of our faith is what brings them to Annunziata.  Just this past week spoke with individuals attending our wonderful parish picnic they spoke of the beauty of our Church and property and all were so thankful for the presence of The Church of the Annunziata and for our many parishioners who give so graciously to our community.

It is important that all of us be ministers of Hospitality.  This ministry is not just for a select few, but all of us can make Annunziata a welcoming place by greeting and welcoming friend and stranger alike.

Special thanks this week for all who helped prepare and serve at our picnic.  It was wonderful to see so many new and longtime parishioners enjoying each other at our picnic.  It gladden my heart to see the joy filled faces of our young and not so young. This was a great way to build up a welcoming community.  Thank you to all who make Annunziata a caring community and may all of us be a source of welcome to those who celebrate with us here.

                                                            Blessings!

                                                            Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners

Welcome to Picinic Day!  This year we are blessed to celebrate 97 years as a parish family.  Milestones give us the opportunity to reflect more deeply on our mission and ministry as daughters and sons of Jesus Christ.  Consider for a moment the countless number of people who have worshiped and celebrated the sacraments with us.  Think of the classmates that we attended school with.  Think of the Annunziata activities you have been a part of.  Think of the baptisms and the weddings and First Communions and Confirmations we have participated in.

In response to all these gifts we say Thank You!  Those two words might be the most important words we speak each day.  They evoke an understanding and awareness that we have been blessed by our God and others.  Think about that for a minute. What did you thank God for yesterday? Did you thank God for your family and friends, your health, your home, your job or livelihood? Did you thank God for the gift of faith or the abundant love that he showers upon you each day?

Prayer is the engine behind it all.  Through prayer and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are able to further our mission ‘engaging others as disciples’ to love God and neighbor as Jesus taught. 

As we strive to be disciples, good stewardship is certainly a disciple’s response.  Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts.

Stewardship isn’t a process, or a campaign, or an accounting of our gifts.  Rather, it is a lifestyle rooted in gratitude and generosity.

The whole point of stewardship is to help each other strengthen our relationship with God and get to Heaven!  The foundation of stewardship is prayer – talking and listening to God every day, throughout the day.

We at the Church of Annunziata have the amazing responsibility to continue to be a beacon of hope and light in our community.  Now, our energies need to focus on the ‘new evangelization’ with programming, staffing, services, and facilities to welcome and grow new disciples, and engage others to meet the varying needs of our school, church and neighborhood. 

Thank you for your generosity, prayers, and commitment to Annunziata Church! 

With Prayers and Blessings,

Msgr John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

This Monday is Labor Day, which is celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894.  It is a day to give thanks for all those who labor for us.

Every year on May 1^st we celebrate the feast day of Joseph the Worker.  Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955.  While this is a recent feast, the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a longer history. In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Also, this Friday is the TWENTY-FIFTH anniversary of the attacks and tragedy of September 11, 2001.  I invite you to take some time that day either at Mass or in prayer to remember those who died on September 11 and their families, along with our first responders (police, fire, paramedics…) and emergency workers and most importantly to pray for an end of violence in our homes, city, country and world.

Pope John Paul II said. The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people,   But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail, he stressed. Christ’s word is the only one that gives a response to the questions which trouble our spirit.  He continues; Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it.

Through prayer and solidarity, we will remember those who lost their lives, and pray with the still-grieving families and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.  Hopefully our thoughts and prayers will be a source of comfort for all and help to console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world, a nation, a city where true peace and love reign among nations and peoples and in the hearts of all.

God Bless!
Msgr. John Shamleffer

Reminder all are invited next Sunday September 13 to our Parish Picinic.

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