Some good news for a change: Jesus loves you, despite everything. Well, that is the Good News, and we must never forget it, even when it’s foggy for days on end in this Valley, and Stanislaus County has not pulled free of the Recession like the rest of the country. Hang in there, folks. God will see us through. Some more good news: our offertory is on the rise again. This represents our faithful trust in His Providence. Our offertory had been heading downward for the first two years of the Recession, but as of September it has begun to rise again. Here is a 6-month report on Sunday offertory compared with last year: July was down 11.8%; August was down 5.5%; September was up 10%; October was up 9%; November was up 10%; December was up 5%; Christmas offering was up 15%. The overall increase in Sunday offertory is up 7.1% from this period last year. St Joseph’s Finance Council and I thank you for your generosity. These monies allow us to attain our mission: To Evangelize God’s People beginning with the Gift of the Holy Eucharist. Part of this mission is to feed the hungry and help families make ends meet. We are doing that like never before, especially through our St. Vincent de Paul, which gives $60,000 annually in aid. It is a joy to pastor such a parish! Speaking of mission, I am leaving tomorrow for Brazil to give a retreat to the Missionaries of Charity. One of our Sunday donut ladies said, “Oh, father, people will be talking about this on the plaza—they say you have more travel miles than any other priest.” That may be true, and I don’t deny it. I use part of my vacation every year to do missionary work with these sisters, and they pay for the tickets. For the record, I will be making four international trips this year—Missionaries of Charity in Brazil (Feb 7-17); Pope John Paul’s beatification in Rome (April 27-May 4); Missionaries of Charity in Peru (May 9-19); and World Youth Day in Madrid with 42 young people (August 6-22). That totals 46 days. We priests are given 30 days vacation a year, plus five days after Easter, and five days after Christmas. Half of the World Youth Day trip I am counting as work, and half as personal vacation. That leaves me three days to go to the beach for a little R&R. Maybe I’ll take four days…. don’t tell the Bishop!