At a recent Finance Council meeting, it was reported that our pledges for the 2017 CSA campaign are running roughly $8400 below the designated target. This means that if all of the pledges are paid in full and on time, we will still be facing a CSA shortfall. Experience tells us that you need your pledges to run above and beyond the target. Therefore, I would like to invite you to consider lending some support. If you have already pledged, then perhaps you would want to add an increase. Or if you did not make a pledge, maybe now would be a good time for you to participate in the campaign. By this I mean that we are still in the year 2017, and you could claim it as a tax deduction. Either way, we want to avoid the burden of a CSA shortfall. In recent years, we have either matched our target or even gone slightly above (earning us a rebate). Hopefully we can keep the momentum going, sending a strong St. Patrick’s signal to the rest of the diocese. You can stop by the office or send something in, marking it for 2017 CSA/St. Patrick’s. You can place something in the collection basket, again marking it properly. Or you could use an envelope from the pew. Those pew envelopes have a blank available for CSA. Whatever the case, I thank you for all of the support you have given to the parish. And I thank you for considering a little something extra. May God bless you as we make our way through these final stages of the year.