In years gone by, a town-crier would go from house to house announcing important news. Now, one of our parish-criers is the Holy Family e-newsletter, The Good News, where we announce important news and events.

As parish-criers we say, "Hear one, hear all, we have a Parish Mission coming up! Save the date; postpone other activities; join your parish family and enjoy the mission."

In years gone by, everyone knew that a mission was a time for Catholics to gather around great spiritual speakers; that businesses and meetings were closed and cancelled so the whole community could gather and have an old-fashioned renewal of faith.

As new time parish-criers we say, "This is a time to gather around a spiritual motivational speaker, grow in faith and get a spiritual boost."

In years gone by, a crier might have warned, "Coming is a must, or be prepared for terrible consequences!" Instead we say, "Share yourself with your parish family; you joining us in prayer makes us complete; please come as we share faith!"

Come rediscover the passion of our believing, the treasure we have been entrusted with, and the power of our community. Come experience the gift of the sacramental journey lived consciously: we are formed, fed and sent out to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

We are thrilled to have Fr. Frank DeSiano as our mission speaker. Fr. Frank is a Paulist priest ordained in 1972; he has served as a pastor in New York, Portland, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. and has trained Catholic evangelizers in many U.S. dioceses. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Boston University. He has written books on the Catholic faith (Presenting the Catholic Faith), on evangelization (The Evangelizing Catholic, Creating the Evangelizing Parish, and Lay Ministers, Lay Disciples), and spirituality (The Seven Commandments of Discipleship).

Fr. Frank begins the mission by giving the homily at all of the Masses on February 7 and 8. The Parish Mission is February 9, 10 and 11. There will be a morning session following the 8:00 a.m. Mass and hospitality, and an evening session at 7:00 p.m. to accommodate everyone's busy schedules.