A Few Thank Yous to Go Around
Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM,
Pastor
If you came to the St. Francis Center last Friday night, you could not miss the excitement in the air. We weren’t there for a basketball game, lecture, or prayer service but for the Annual Beefsteak Dinner. When I first walked in, the energy was electric and I could sense the joy in the room. Dinner was served at 6:30 PM but the doors opened at 4:30 PM so people could enjoy their appetizers while listening to the live music by Michael Corliss, a local favorite. We could have also participated in the silent auction, raffle drawings, and the wine cork pull. When the all-you-can-eat filet mignon dinner was served, everyone was ready because they knew it would be delicious, and it was. It was largest crowd we ever had for the Beefsteak Dinner with just over 300 people in attendance. The room was electric and those gathered enjoyed the great sense of community that we know so well here at St. Francis.
It was a wonderful evening! It was also a wonderful fundraiser for the parish. All of the bills have not been paid yet but I am told that the final donation to the parish will be around $17,000. As we reported just a two weeks ago, the funds donated to the parish through events like the Beefsteak Dinner are an incredible contribution that allow us pay our bills and end the year with some extra to keep in our “parish reserve fund.”
A great thanks to Joan Sawicki and the entire Beefsteak Dinner Committee, Diane DeMeo, Ellen & Walt Dombrowski, Pat Fagan, Pat & Jim Heimlich, Mary Law, Judy O’Connor, Madelyn & Bernie Pietrucha, Kathy Reinbold, and our St. Francis staff members, Astrid
Befumo, Michelle DeBella, and Amy Marks. The success of this great evening was entirely because of all the work of the committee and the countless volunteers who made it happen. Thanks to our maintenance staff for setting up the tables only to have to take them down again so our early morning Monday activities could start without any problems. Thank you all around to everyone who joined us and made last Friday night the place to be!! Thank you, Thank you! Another round of applauds is needed for the ad hoc Outdoor Nativity Committee! If you have not seen the outdoor Nativity yet (I’m not sure how you could miss it??) go take a look. It is magnificent! Tina Kelsall, as chair of the Arts and Environment sub-committee of the Parish Liturgy Commission, coordinates the decoration of the
inside of the church for all of our major celebrations. When she approached me about the idea of a life-size Nativity set for outside, I was all for it. Franciscans love to celebrate, we enjoy great meals like the Beefsteak Dinner, but we also have a great devotion to the Christmas Creche.
In 1223, St. Francis recreated the scene of Jesus’ birth in the small Italian town of Greccio. Historically, he is first recorded as doing so. In St. Bonaventure’s biography, The Life of St. Francis, he wrote, “He prepared a manger, and brought hay, and an ox and an ass to the place appointed. The brothers were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many and brilliant lights and
sonorous psalms of praise. The man of God (St. Francis) stood before the manger, full of devotion and piety, bathed in tears and radiant with joy; the Holy Gospel was chanted by Francis… he preached to the people around the nativity of the poor King; and being unable to utter His name for the tenderness of His love, He called Him the Babe of
Bethlehem.”
A great thanks to Tina and everyone who helped to
recreate the Nativity scene on Long Beach Boulevard: Pam Balogh, Paul Chambers, Tim and Kathy Coogan, John La Pilusa, Bill O’Malley, Roland and JoJo Romano, Cathy Pavlovski, and Maria Spruger. More thanks will come, but for those who have already made donations for this new addition, thank you as well for allowing us to see the Babe of Bethlehem in a whole new way!!
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