Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: November 15, 2015
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Thank you the attention you gave last weekend to Bishop Muench’s special letter inviting participation in this year’s Bishop’s Annual Appeal. The Diocese of Baton Rouge has many obligations and seeks to help as many people who are in need as possible, and our contributions to the BAA are one important way in which this can be accomplished.
I also want to thank you most sincerely for your overwhelming generosity to our “waterproofing” project. Some preliminary work has begun already on this, and while the bills for it have already begun to come in, I think we will be able to manage this long-needed expense as we thought we could. We should also be able to complete the needed structural engineering analysis of the Cathedral building in the spring of 2016 as planned as well.
But not all news about money is good news. I was informed about 2 weeks ago by the Finance Office of the diocese of an important adjustment in the way they have assisted us in completing the renovation and expansion of our Parish Hall. Almost $400,000 of their grant to us during the last fiscal year they have converted into a loan, so that now our Parish will be expected to pay this back over the next 15 years. The note comes to just over $2,700 per month.
I have to admit I was chagrined a bit by this news, since all of the written and verbal communications from the diocese had instructed us to identify monies given us as a “grant.” This will cause significant difficulties for us during the present fiscal year, since our budget had been set without having this extra large monthly expense. I think we will be able to manage it, however, since the rate of interest on our trust funds with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation provides us with adequate income for it, albeit at a slow pace. We had hoped to use this money for other things, both in areas of maintenance and facility-improvements as well as increased staffing and services, but will likely have to put some of these ideas on the back burner now for a while. While we had in the beginning acknowledged our willingness to borrow some of the monies needed to repair our Parish Hall, this had never been mentioned again to us.
It’s never a happy day when you discover you’ve incurred a debt of which you were previously unaware. Oh well, we shall have to make the best of it, I suppose. One thing I could not do, however, is not let you know about it, since it is ultimately your generosity that provides for all of this. Transparency is always the best approach, especially in matters of public trust, of which finance is certainly an important one.
Let me close by inviting you to a number of events coming up soon. Next weekend, the last week of the Church’s liturgical year begins with the Solemnity of Christ the King, November 22. That evening the annual downtown ecumenical Thanksgiving service will be held at First Presbyterian Church on North Boulevard at 6 pm. Our own traditional “Thanksgiving Vigil Mass” will be on Wednesday, November 25, at 5 pm; during this celebration you’re invited to bring the bread and wine you’ll use the next day at your family’s meal, so it can be properly blessed in advance of the feast! And of course, our 4th Degree Knights of Columbus will fry a turkey for you (see p. 5 in this Bulletin for the order form) if you’d rather not cook one yourself!
On Sunday, December 6, we’re sponsoring a “parish outing” over to St. Joseph Abbey in St. Benedict, Louisiana, north of Covington. Taken at the initiative of our Development Committee, we hope to have a bus full of parishioners, to tour the Abbey and Seminary College there, admire the artwork, celebrate the liturgy with the monks and seminarians, and enjoy one another’s company all the while. In next week’s Bulletin there will be more information about this fun “road trip,” but I wanted to tell you about it so that you can put it on your calendar and plan to join us!
Advent begins on November 28/29, and during that special season of Christmas anticipation, Pope Francis’ special Jubilee Year of Mercy begins on the holy day of Tuesday, December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On Sunday, December 13, at 12 noon, we will celebrate a sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) with a special Mass and reception following: in 1865 it was our 19th Pastor, Father Cyril Delacroix, who founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Baton Rouge! Compassionate mercy is not just something for this Holy Year, it’s been a hallmark of St. Joseph Parish for the past century-and-a-half!
Sincerely in the Lord,
