Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: December 11, 2016
Wow! I was absolutely thrilled on #Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving), when 23 wonderful people donated $3,205 to our Cathedral Parish! Since this was our first year to participate in the #IGiveCatholic campaign that day, we really hadn’t known what to expect. But it’s always good to be on the receiving end of people’s generosity.
You know, this really was the first time we’ve ever experimented with “online giving,” soliciting folks’ donations with credit or debit cards. I suspect that as time goes on we’re going to depend more and more on this: so many people today prefer electronic transactions, and consider paper checks and cash to be “old-fashioned.” Just as it’s common now for people to use only mobile phones and not even install land-lines at home, so too are more and more people making their banking and bill-payments exclusively digital as well. Even though I like to think I’m computer-literate, I have to admit all of this makes me feel a bit old as well!
While on electronic subjects, if you haven’t yet noticed we’ve redesigned our website. Please take a minute to go to www.cathedralbr.org and check it out. Of course, like any new computer project, it took longer to set up than I’d hoped, and it still doubtless has a few bugs in it. So if you see anything that looks strange – or for that matter if you notice something missing, or see something that isn’t broken but that you just don’t like! – please let me know. We’d like to keep improving it.
One aspect of our website updating was the relocation of our website and email servers. If you’re familiar with our Parish Office you know that email is our communications backbone, so we had a few anxious moments in transferring it all to a new system. In any case, the most important thing for YOU to know is that now you must use our email addresses that end in @cathedralbr.org – our “old” email addresses that used the @cathedralofstjoseph.org domain name no longer work. We switched over to the new ones 5 years ago – since they’re shorter and easier to use – but kept the “old” ones forwarding into the new ones. Now, email will bounce back to you if you try to use an incorrect address.
I do want to offer thanks to Mr. Paul Miller of our Parish, who has spearheaded the project of the new website redesign and email setup. We’ll now be redesigning our Bulletin and stationery too, to make use of the new logo and styles he’s drawn up for us. Anyway, his business is www.thedesignsmith.com and I very much recommend his work to you.
Let me offer one final word of heartfelt thanks, to Mr. Eric Henderson of Houston, Texas. Eric used to live in Baton Rouge, and was a wonderful parishioner and member of our choir here. Even since moving out-of-State more than a decade ago he continued to help us with the setup and management of our “old” websites and email systems. His expertise and willingness to help was always something we could depend on. While we won’t have to bother him any longer – especially with electronic emergencies! – we are going to miss him: his kindness is inspiring, and his smile is so big you can almost see it over the phone! Again, thanks, Eric!
When we see the traditional rose-colored vestments, we recognize that Advent is half-over, and Christmas is nearer than ever. Hopefully our spiritual preparation has been as significant as our shopping and baking and partying! There’s still time to carve out a few hours, at least, to rediscover in prayer the mystery and wonder of the Incarnation of God’s only-begotten Son and His birth in Bethlehem: whether here in the quiet Cathedral or wrapped in a blanket on your own sofa, your mind and heart can connect with God if you but invite Him to do so!
Yours in Christ,
Father Paul Counce
