Parish Collections
Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,
I pray that you are blessed. I just cannot believe that it is September. I don’t know if I have been worrying about it because it tolls the end of summer, or the fact that I turn 60. Both the summer and those 60 years seem to have flown by. I felt I needed to talk about another subject that is not my favorite, our finances.
No one can say that the members of St. Alphonsus are not generous. It is amazing how generous you have been, especially during the pandemic when money was tight and many of you were out of work. When we needed to establish an online presence that included streaming video, you donated $7,000. Whenever our outreach ministry makes a request, money and materials come pouring in. The Christmas Store is just one example. I think you were very generous with the “Our Shepherds, Our Future” campaign, especially since it was primarily for priests who have not and probably will not serve here at St. Alphonsus. But many of you saw the bigger need and gave generously. We even went above our assessment for this year’s diocesan appeal. Fortunately, the overage will come back to us. Even our recent collection for Haiti received a very generous $3691.00. These things are all necessary, in that I am a firm believer in the need for a parish to help those in need, just as I ask you to do so.
However, while all of those special collections have done well, and I am very grateful for all of you who made donations, it is the Sunday Collection that has suffered. It is this collection that keeps our parish running and the doors open. One observation that has not only been confirmed through experience, but I have had parishioners come out and tell me, “Father, I don’t like to give to the ‘ordinary’ collection, but if you have some special need just let me know.” For some reason a lot of people don’t like to give to the fund that pays the HVAC bills, or the electric bill, or salaries, or liturgical expenses, or a whole list of other items necessary to run a parish. Items that keep the parish going so that we can do those other things. It is odd, but people love donating to the fund that buys a new AC unit for the church, but not as much to the fund that pays to have it run and cool them off while attending mass on a 90-degree day.
At the beginning of the pandemic people were very generous. A number of people switched over to electronic giving, and every single day there was at least a dozen envelopes dropped through our mail slot. In fact, we were doing so good that we decided not to apply for a PPP loan. We felt that we should leave the funds for those who desperately needed them. But as time has gone by, and even though the numbers attending Sunday mass have risen significantly, our collection has gone in the opposite direction. Ironically, when we decided to apply for the second round of PPP loans there was a problem with our form and we were not informed about it until it was too late.
While I would not want to take anything away from those other collections, as I believe they are all necessary for the building of the kingdom, as well as, demonstrating our fulfillment of our Lord’s command to love our neighbor, it is my job to oversee and give voice to the needs of our parish. Our parish is certainly struggling right now. Even during the capital campaign the bishop reminded people that their first responsibility was to their parish and then other charities after it.
I would like to ask every parishioner to pray over their current offering. If you had stopped giving for some reason, I ask that you consider making an offering once again. I realize some of you are facing financial challenges, and I pray that God will watch over you. For those who have been blessed, I hope that you are able to share those blessings with your parish family. It truly takes a community to run a parish, each of us contributing what we can of our time, talent, and treasures. May God continue to bless us, so that we can continue to build the kingdom.
In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick