 How Much Should I Be Giving To The Church?
In our Catholic faith “Tithing” is understood as giving 10% of your gross income - with 5% being given to the Church and 5% being given to the poor. Tithing is a responsibility for all Christians and should be taken very seriously. However, there are legitimate exceptions to tithing such as family members living in poverty with very little money to cover their basic needs. Those who have the ability should make their best effort to tithe. Those who say their budget does not allow them to tithe but are buying things that are unnecessary, should look at where they are able to cut discretionary spending. By cutting discretionary spending, they are placing God before themselves. Regardless of the circumstances, every family should try to sacrificially give something no matter how small the gift. Jesus gave us an example of this in Mark 12:41, where the poor widow gave a few pennies from what she had to live on. In Tobit 4:8, Tobit tells his son Tobiah, “Son, give alms in proportion to what you own. If you have great wealth, give alms out of your abundance; if you have but little, distribute even some of that. But do not hesitate to give alms."
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 Our parish community welcomes these newly baptized children of God: Elodie Rose Maiolo Reid Joseph Landis  We congratulate and rejoice with these couples of our parish community whom recently united in marriage:
Dow Emerson, IV & Lorena Gonzalez Kevin Moser & Theresa Bajorek Robert Cianciaglini & Corrinne Phipps Matthew Carraher & Emily Drobnock  Please remember to pray for Vocations!
This is a big problem that requires all of us to help: “The duty of fostering vocations falls on the whole Christian community, and they should discharge it principally by living full Christian lives” [Optatam totius, 2]  American Catholics who are highly religious are most likely to report being “very happy” with their lives, satisfied with their family life, and frequently attending family gatherings, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.
Catholics who are highly religious-meaning that they report praying daily and attend religious services at least once a week-are also are more than twice as likely as the average Catholic to look to the teachings of the Catholic Church, the Bible, and the pope for guidance on difficult moral questions, according to the study, called “Religion in Everyday Life.” The report examines the personal, family, and social habits of more than 35,000 Americans across a wide range of faiths and denominations, including non-Christians and those who are religiously unaffiliated. Survey respondents were asked questions ranging from what they believe are the essentials of their faith, to whether they had told a white lie in the last week, to whether they recycle. Read the full article here  A reminder from our Food Bank Ministry: The Hershey Food Bank is Open with Summer Hours!
With warm summer days ahead and the children off from school, the Hershey Food Bank and Community Outreach would like to remind families who have encountered challenging economic times that we are here to help. Our purpose is to serve the Derry Township community by providing food and assistance with the temporary needs of families and individuals in financial distress, no matter how large or small your family may be. Examples of “in need” include: -if your children receive free or subsidized school lunches -if you are on the SNAP program -if you lost your job or have a low paying job -if you are a single mom or dad going through difficult times -if you are on low fixed income or disability or receive medical assistance -if you are on Section 8 housing program The Food Bank is open to serve clients during five different time periods each month but also works with families that have conflicting schedules. Each family is permitted two food pick-ups per month. Our families receive fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, meat, juices and other staples to feed the entire family. We also have diapers, baby food, paper and personal care products. We also provide other services such as emergency utility and rent assistance for established food bank clients, one on one budgeting classes, and referrals to other nonprofits and government agencies for needs we are not able to meet. The Hershey Food Bank has been serving the Derry Township community for almost 50 years and is totally staffed by volunteers. We have gone through great changes, from serving our families out of the community’s church basements to building a new residence at 120 E. Derry Road. This wonderful facility was made possible thanks to the great support we have from many committed local businesses, residents, churches and civic clubs. Our supporters and volunteers have been so giving of their time and resources to help our families…..we are very thankful! If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please email us at hersheyfoodbank@verizon.net or call us at 717-520-3143 to schedule an appointment. We look forward to helping those in need!  Registration is now open for Religious Education Classes for the 2016-2017. An "Early Bird" incentive is being offered on tuition through July 3rd. Please register early so that books and supplies may be ordered when companies offer discounts.
Registration information is available here. If you are unsure if your child should be enrolled in REP, you can read more about the program here.  It's that time of year... LifeTeen has headed off for their annual Mission Trip. Please keep in prayer the following teens and adults who will be serving the community of Charlotte, NC for the week of June 26 - July 1st with Catholic Heart Workcamp.
 We welcome to our parish Father Steve Arena as our newest Parochial Vicar. Father Arena is from the Waynesboro area and has just completed his studies for the priesthood at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. It is great to have a young, energetic priest here at Saint Joan of Arc and I know that you welcome him with warmth and kindness.
A special thanks to all who worked and supported our parish festival. This was my first experience of the festival and I was very impressed by the number of volunteers, the organization of a large event such as this and the communal spirit that was obvious each night. The food was delicious, the games were fun, the entertainment very good and the Bingo was cheap (I won the second game of the festival…$3.75…but put it right back into the following games and never won again!) I am so glad that our parish has an old fashioned festival like this. It is a good thing to come together as parish and community in a spirit of comradery and fellowship. God bless to all who made it a success (and I don’t mean just financially!). Father Al  ENRICH A CHILD’S LIFE: Want to know more about our faith? Sometimes the best way to gain a better understanding is to teach the faith to our youth. The REP office is looking for volunteers to act as hall monitors, classroom aides and Catechists. Ideally we would like to see 2 adults per class. Background checks are required. If you are interested please contact the REP Office.
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