Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: September 16, 2018
After all of the special busy-ness of Bishop Michael Duca’s installation as Bishop of Baton Rouge, it’s kind of nice to return to the “merely hectic” pace of ordinary activities here at your Cathedral!
I’m especially looking forward to our Parish Pot Luck Supper tomorrow (Monday, September 17, at 6 pm)! Remember, since it has a “Tailgate Party” theme, come in your favorite LSU, Southern or Saints gear – or football or cheerleader’s uniform if you can still fit into it! I’ll supply the main dish: you bring snacks, salads, sides and sweets that all true fans love to eat and share!
Please make special note of page 5 in this issue of The Carpenter. It’s our annual Financial Report for the fiscal year 2017-2018. It’s just a summary – we try to keep it to one page so it doesn’t become too complicated! – but I hope you can see that we’re in pretty good shape as regards temporalities. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask: Mrs. Lorie Weeks (our Director of Operations) and I will be happy to break down and explain any numbers in more detail.
But one aspect of the Parish’s financial operations doesn’t appear in this annual report, and that’s a mention of our two Dedicated Funds at the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. They function sort-of as trust funds, for the principal is not spent but invested for our benefit: the interest generated by these two funds are what we can use if necessary to supplement our usual income. One fund is simply a general “St. Joseph Cathedral Dedicated Fund,” and as of June 30, 2018, it totaled $1,630,848.34; its proceeds are not restricted to any specific purpose. The other one is our “Bettie Womack Dedicated Building Fund,” interest from which is restricted to be spent only on capital, maintenance and repair expenses; as of June 30 it totaled $1,098,818.11. Please remember in your grateful prayers all who have contributed to these funds over the years, for their generosity has provided valuable assets for our future as a Parish and Cathedral. In a special way, of course, I especially have to recommend that you pray for the soul of Miss Bettie Womack, whose most generous bequest established the fund which bears her name.
This prompts me now to mention two more wonderful, recently-departed friends of the Cathedral: Mr. Lawrence Delaune and Miss Jo Salario. Each also remembered the Cathedral in their last wills and testaments, a true demonstration of their faith and of their recognition of its priority in their lives. Their generous final bequests have been added to the principal of the general “Dedicated Fund” at the BRAF, so that the interest produced in the future will enable their gifts to “keep on giving” in perpetuity!
Finally, in line with this topic, I note that a few other independent Funds established at the BRAF also benefit St. Joseph Parish from time to time, by occasional or scheduled distributions. One just began to offer us an annual gift, a Fund set up before her death by longtime parishioner Miss Sybil Boizelle. Her perpetual gift wonderfully reminds us to keep her and her loved ones in prayer, as well helping us out financially. Perhaps this kind of thing is something that more people can do as we come to appreciate more and more the reality of God’s goodness to us during our all-too-short lifetimes here!
Sincerely in the eternal Christ,
Fr. Paul D. Counce
