Fr. Mike's Message - 11/15/2020

Dear Parishioners,

Let me take this opportunity to say thank you for your generous support and patience while Fr. Tony and I were out of service with Covid. We are both deeply appreciative of the kind gestures you offered to us in the form of calls, texts, emails, notes, food, etc. I can honestly report that we ate well during our time of isolation and quarantine! You’re the best! Being in lockdown offers one a chance to think a lot and reflect. It was another opportunity for us to pray for you and to express our gratitude to God for the gift of being assigned to this great parish in this wonderful town made up of so many awesome people. Thank you!

On the good news front, we are extremely excited to announce that Mrs. Emily (Holdmeier) Marquart, SFBGS 5th Grade Teacher, is the recipient of the prestigious Emerson Excellence in Education Award! Only one in 500 teachers in the Archdiocese can receive it in any year. This is a BIG deal! In the letter she received announcing her award, it states that Emily has distinguished herself as a high quality, best practice teacher who serves as a model for her colleagues. It goes on to say that she inspires confidence and pride in the families of our parish school. Indeed she does! We are proud of Emily and grateful that she shares her talents and abilities as a superb teacher with us here in the parish and school where she grew up and was formed in education and faith. Emily is the daughter of Roger and Sue Holdmeier; she recently celebrated her marriage to Luke Marquart. The Borgia tradition, which runs deep, is carried on well by Emily and her fellow teachers. Emily is a bright star among other bright stars who educate and form our students at Borgia Grade School.  A proud moment for us all!  Congratulations, Mrs. Emily (Holdmeier) Marquart!

Recently there was an article in the Missourian highlighting the local efforts around assisting our town’s homeless population with shelter during cold nights.  For the past several years, Mercy Hospital has been allowing homeless individuals to stay overnight in their facilities and then offered them a meal in the morning before the day shift workers would arrive at the hospital. Due to Covid concerns, the hospital is unable to offer that service this year.

Washington’s Emergency Management Director, Mark Skornia, gathered city officials along with leaders of local churches and non-profit organizations to come together to figure out a plan to assist with the homeless. Possibilities were raised as to which institution or organization could accommodate the homeless at the sites, but each group had concerns similar to Mercy due to the amount of people in and out of their facilities. It became clear to the group that there would be no perfect solution to this and we then worked to find a temporary solution until such time that Mercy could again host the homeless population in their facilities. The decision was made to rent a block of rooms for the homeless people at the American Inn.

As a parish we will make a contribution toward this and I’m inviting you to make a personal donation to this if you would like. A GoFundMe account for the cause has been established or a donation can be made directly to the Franklin County Community Resource Board which will serve as the agency to collect and distribute funds to American Inn for overnight stays. The mailing address is: FCCRB, PO Box 126, Union, MO  63084  - Please note in the memo line on checks – “Winter Homeless Fund.” A gift of any amount will be helpful. Our homeless brothers and sisters are in need and we have a chance to help. Thanks for your consideration. 

As a reminder, we will welcome Archbishop Rozanski to St. Francis Borgia on Sunday, November 29th at the 11:00 a.m. Mass. At this Mass, Archbishop Rozanski will formally install me as Pastor of St. Francis Borgia Parish.  All are welcome. We will also plan to livestream this for those who want to pray with us from home.

Have a blessed week,
Fr. Mike Boehm