With the exception of two very brief cold snaps, this winter may go down as the “winter that wasn’t.”  As I write my weekly column, we are preparing to set a record high temperature of 85 degrees.  This is, by far, the warmest winter I have experienced in my fifteen years in Naples.  As a Florida native, I must also say that this may be the warmest I can remember in my 43 years.  Several weeks ago I complained about the excessive heat, however, after speaking with many of our seasonal residents and visitors I have come to the realization that the majority seem to be quite pleased with the warmth.  I constantly refer to Southwest Florida as “paradise” and I guess this must be the case.  Although everything is relative and areas up north have had a mild winter also, 85 degrees sure beats 35 degrees any day of the winter.

We had two great playoff games last weekend and as a result, Super Bowl XLVI is going to be a repeat of Super Bowl XLII.  The New York Giants will play the New England Patriots in what promises to be a great matchup of two outstanding quarterbacks.  As of this past Wednesday, over 200 tickets were sold for our 14^th Annual Super

Bowl Party to be held in the ballroom of the Parish Life Center.  If you would like to attend, please purchase your ticket in the parish office.  The cost is $25.  Please see the flyer in this bulletin for further details.  For those not able to attend, I will be out in front of church on Super Bowl Sunday selling squares for the big game.  You may purchase squares for $5 or $10.  Proceeds from the Super Bowl Party benefit our Youth Ministry Program.  I look forward to seeing you on Super Bowl Sunday.

We now have over 40 ministries participating this weekend for the 2nd annual Ministry Fair to be held in the PLC ballroom this weekend from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 7:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.  This will be your opportunity to come down and meet representatives from all of our ministries and sign up to join.  There will be giveaways and raffles at the fair so make sure to attend.  We will serve refreshments during the fair on both days.  Our goal is to create 100% participation by our parishioners in ministries at St. John the Evangelist.  With so many choices, we invite you to join us for this magnificent event.

Thank you to those parishioners that have submitted your email address.  For those who found my request too cumbersome to cut out and drop in the basket, you may fill out a card at the ministry fair this weekend.  In order for this new email campaign to be successful, we must have your email address.

In the last week alone, I sold eight new plots in the memorial garden to parishioners who felt that our garden was the ideal spot for their final resting place.  Oddly, all of these parishioners also had plots at cemeteries up north.  The fact that our Memorial Garden is located onsite and in a location that they will visit weekly was the main factor in their decision.  They did not want to be buried in a northern cemetery where very few will stop by to visit.  Many of these cemeteries will sell back the spaces at a discounted rate.  In some cases, the money recouped from the sale was more than adequate to cover the meager cost of purchasing plots in our garden ($1,200.00.)  If you are interested in purchasing a space in our garden, please contact me at your earliest convenience to make an appointment.

We are planning to paint the exterior and interior of the church doors in the next month.  We will depart from the “pinkish hue” currently in place and repaint with a slightly darker, warmer color.  We are not only painting all of the exterior doors but also the interior doors.  We are confident that you will appreciate the new color scheme.

I have included a few new pictures of the triplets in this week’s bulletin for those wanting to keep abreast of their progress.  As you can see, at only eight months of age, the girls are beginning to see the enjoyment of bothering their big brother.  Mia is pictured pulling Nate’s hair while Ella is pictured by herself as happy as she can be.  Due to my constant prodding, the girls have successfully mastered “Da Da” while Nate doesn’t seem too interested in speaking anything but gibberish.  Thanks again for your prayers for the health and prosperity of our little ones.

In His work together,

Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager

Sacred Music In Sacred Spaces

Introducing a new concert series to St. John the Evangelist and to Naples:

Monthly concerts, offered free of charge, with the intent to praise God!

Next FREE Concert:  3 PM Sunday, January 29, 2012

Songs of Devotion & Faith

A joint concert with Southwest Florida Italian Opera!

Italian baritone Dino Valle will join with St. John’s favorite soprano, Ellie Roberts (née VanderMeuse),

Tom Oram & the Saint John the Evangelist Adult Choir to fill our church with soul-stirring sacred music from some of history’s greatest operas & oratorios! 

This sacred program will include selections from the works of

Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, & more!

DOWNLOAD Flyer

IS CATHOLICISM STILL RELEVANT?

Matthew Kelly, internationally acclaimed speaker and New  York Times bestselling author, receives over one thousand invitations per year from schools, universities, churches, and Fortune 500 companies to speak. Over the past decade, Kelly has spoken to more than 3 million people in 50 countries. Throughout all of his speaking and writing, Kelly presents the universal message that we are here to become the best version of ourselves. As an authentic example of a man leading his life with purpose, Kelly shares with us the way to the life of happiness that we are called to be part of.

Many of your friends and family think Catholicism has nothing to offer in the modern world…others think Catholicism is nothing more than a lifeless set of ancient rules and regulations… perhaps you even have doubts yourself from time to time. In his talk, “Is Catholicism Still Relevant?” Kelly will dispel many of the widespread myths surrounding the practice and rejection of Catholicism while revealing the genius of Catholicism in our everyday lives. His presentation will be based on his book, Rediscovering Catholicism, which has been on the Catholic Publishing Association’s bestseller list for the past 32 months.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Doors open at 6:15pm for networking
Program begins at 7:30pm

St. Leo the Great Catholic Church Parish Life Center
28290 Beaumont Rd., Bonita Springs, FL

Registration is Required $15/person Early Bird – $20/person after 2/7/2012

Register & Pay at www.faithandwine.com/speakerFeb9 OR mail a check payable to Faith and Wine, Inc. (and include attendee name(s) and telephone number or email address) to: Mary Beth M. Clary Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, LLP 9132 Strada Place, 3rd Floor Naples, FL 34108

Questions: (239) 464-2706

DOWNLOAD Flyer

Co Sponsored by:

Faith and Ale, Naples

Faith and Ale, Ft. Myers

San Marco Council of Catholic Women

We have worked very hard to transform the Memorial Garden into a beautiful and spiritual space. After three rounds of landscape renovations, the garden is now looking better than ever. Over the holiday season, many families came to visit loved ones in the memorial garden. Along with these visits came large bouquets of flowers and other items placed on the graves to honor or memorialize loved ones. When re-landscaping the Memorial Garden, we installed countless flowering bushes and annuals. The idea is that rather than placing an obtrusive bouquet of flowers on the grave, visitors would instead pick one of these flowers and place it on the grave. By doing so, we keep the garden looking nice and don’t have to deal with cleaning up dead arrangements or bouquets on a weekly basis. On your next trip to the memorial garden, please consider picking a Hibiscus or a Penta and placing it on the grave of your loved one. Let’s keep our Memorial Garden looking nice for everyone. Thank you for your consideration.

As of this past Wednesday there were already 150 tickets sold for the 14^th Annual Super Bowl party to be held on Sunday, February 5. Considering we do not yet know who will be playing in the big game, this is a great turnout. Although the Packers squandered any opportunity of a team from the Midwest playing in the Super Bowl, there is a good chance that we will have a Northeast duo which would be a bonus considering we have a large contingent of seasonal parishioners who spend their summer in this region. We do have a limit of 300 attendees for the party so if you are planning on attending, I suggest that you pick up your ticket very soon.

Thus far we have 35 ministries participating on January 28 and 29 at the second annual Ministry Fair to be held in the PLC ballroom from 4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 7:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. This will be your opportunity to come down and meet representatives from all of our ministries and sign up to join. There will be giveaways and raffles at the fair so make sure to attend. We will serve refreshments during the fair on both days. Our goal is to create 100% participation by our parishioners in ministries at St. John the Evangelist. With so many choices, we invite you to join us for this magnificent event.

Annual Contribution Statements will be mailed out this coming week to all parishioners who contributed at least $1.00 during the 2011 calendar year. The statements will be mailed out first class in order to eliminate any problems with the bulk rate mailing process. As you know, we have made great strides in the past several years to ensure that your statement is accurate. If there is an error on your statement, please contact me as soon as possible so that I may research and rectify the situation. The following are examples of contributions that will NOT appear on your annual statement from St. John the Evangelist:  1)If you have been contributing to the Catholic Faith Appeal in the 2011 calendar year and have exceeded the IRS $250.00 threshold, you will receive an acknowledgement directly from the Diocese of Venice. If you did not meet the $250.00 threshold for CFA contributions in 2011, you will need to use cancelled checks for tax purposes. 2)If you made a contribution directly to the Jamaica Outreach Program (JOP), your gift will be recognized by JOP. 3)If you made a contribution directly to the St. Vincent De Paul Society, your gift will be recognized by the St. Vincent De Paul Society. 4)If you deposited loose cash in the offertory and did not use an envelope, we have no record of the gift. 5)If you are not a registered parishioner, you will not receive a statement. Thank you very much to all of our parishioners for your generous support in 2011. We would not be able to efficiently operate without you.

Last week I made a request for your email address so that we may enhance communication within the parish through our new email module. I was very disappointed with the number of responses I received on Monday. In order for this to be a success, we must have your email address. I promise not to badger you with unwanted emails. I will only send out newsletters and pertinent emails relating to upcoming events which you may want to be involved.

First name______________________________________________________________________

Last name______________________________________________________________________

Email Address___________________________________________________________________

In His work together,

Scott Schlossberg, MBA

General Manager

As you all know, I am a staunch believer in the power of prayer.  The multitudes that prayed for our triplets (in and out of the womb) was overwhelming and has certainly had a dramatic effect.  We are blessed with three healthy and happy little ones.  Many of you pray daily for those on the prayer list with absolutely no idea who these individuals are.  From July through December, many of you prayed intently for the Grabinskis who are parishioners at St. John the Evangelist.  Matt and his wife (Laura) delivered twins (Leo and Lola) extremely early and as a result, they spent 98 days in the NICU at The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.  The twins were only two pounds at birth and at one point weighed less than two pounds before beginning their miraculous recovery.  Matt created a magnificent video of their journey entitled (98 days in the NICU.)  If you would like to see the video, I have attached a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL4-wVZmeY8. You may also access the video by visiting YouTube and searching for “Leo and Lola.”  Matt and Laura have expressed their sincere gratitude for your prayers and invite you to see the little miracles that you prayed for.

On Sunday, February 5, we will host our 14th Annual Super Bowl Party in the ballroom of the Parish Life Center.  This party has received much acclaim over its 13 year run and this year will be no different.  Tickets will be available in the parish office for $25 each.  We will sell a maximum of 300 tickets and due to the increasing popularity of this annual event, I strongly suggest buying yours early.  This year we will be using our new audio visual system for the game.  Rather than having one large screen to watch the game, we will have four large screens providing for an amazing viewing experience.  We hope to see you there.  Please see the flyer in this bulletin for further details.

Save the date…..On January 28 and 29, we will host the second annual Ministry Fair to be held in the PLC ballroom from 4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 7:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.  This will be your opportunity to come down and meet representatives from all of our ministries and sign up to join.  There will be giveaways and raffles at the fair so make sure to attend.  We will serve refreshments during the fair on both days.  Our goal is to create 100% participation by our parishioners in ministries at St. John the Evangelist.  With so many choices, we invite you to join us for this magnificent event.

After partnering with Fleming’s during the months of October through December, we have partnered with Charlie Chang’s for the winter months in an effort to generate additional revenue for the Catholic Faith Appeal.  Please see the flyer in the bulletin.  They have an amazing lunch special as well as great sushi and a fantastic dinner menu.  Charlie Chang’s is located only one mile north of Immokalee Road on US 41 at the Double Tree Hotel.

Thank you for your extreme generosity during the second collection this past weekend to benefit the Seminarians of the Diocese of Venice.  The collection totaled over $11,000.00.  As you know, it is very expensive to prepare these young men for the priesthood.  Due to your generosity, we will be able to continue to turn out amazing priests in the Diocese of Venice.

Unfortunately, we failed to reach our goal for the 2011 Catholic Faith Appeal.  We fell short by $23,000.00 and will have to recognize the shortfall out of our operating revenue.  Thank you to all who contributed in an effort to reach our goal.  I will take a brief respite and we will begin anew next month for the 2012 appeal.

Bob Claussen (Stewardship Council President) and I attended a training seminar this past week in Tampa to learn more about the new email module we are planning to launch by the end of the month.  I can promise you that this will greatly increase communication within the parish.  In addition to basic email, we will be able to send you interactive newsletters with links to important or interesting content.  In order for this campaign to be successful, we need your email address.  Your email will be kept secure and only used by the parish to convey pertinent information.  If you are willing, please provide the requested information below and drop in the collection basket or turn in at the parish office.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation to enhance communication.

First name______________________________________________________________________

Last name______________________________________________________________________

Email Address___________________________________________________________________

In His work together,

Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager