Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: July 07, 2019
Let’s begin with the fun announcement: our Parish Hawaiian Pot Luck Supper is coming up! It will be not this Monday but next Monday, July 15, at 6 pm! Wear your Hawaiian shirt, put on a big smile, and bring a snack, salad, side or sweet to share (the Parish is providing the shredded pork!): it will be just like being at a luau! We’re going to do our best to have special treats and activities for children and grandchildren, so bring them along too!)
But lots of things in life are more serious. Money, for one thing.
For instance, the Church’s new fiscal year began on July 1. That basically means that in the Parish Office we’re totaling up the figures from last year, filling out the various “annual report” forms for the diocesan finance office, and so forth. With a number of special events, last year wasn’t our most frugal year ever: it began with higher-than-expected costs incurred in repairing the roofs in the Cathedral’s side chapels. Remember that project? We also had the happy honor of hosting Father Tim Grimes’ first Mass and reception, and the sad duty of providing a fitting farewell to our longtime organist and choir director, Mr. Robbie Giroir. Thank goodness things like the installation costs for our new bishop were almost completely reimbursed by the diocesan liturgy office! More worrisome than special expenses in the long run, however, are simply the ever-increasing costs of everything else: not just repairs on historic Cathedral Square but wages, electricity, insurance premiums, equipment, taxes (yes, we pay them – sales tax, FICA and other federal and State employment taxes, as well as diocesan and some State income taxes), and so forth.
On the income side of the ledger, totals have been down a bit over the past year. Stewardship giving from our “identified givers” continues to be very generous and stable (thank you!), but anonymous gifts – often known as the “loose collection” on the weekends – were not as substantial as in years past. And there’s been very little “new money.” We haven’t increased fees for six or seven years now (for weddings, or renting the Hall or parking lot, etc.) but we will soon revisit these amounts.
Fortunately, the Cathedral Parish has some monies in savings, and this allows us to cope with unexpected fluctuations in the budget from year to year. But we naturally don’t like dipping into our savings for operating expenses. While this is the first time we’ve needed to do this in some five years, I sure don’t want this to become a habit!
In any event, when FY 2018-2019’s final numbers are in we’ll post our usual more detailed report in The Carpenter (the famous “pie chart” article!).
In closing, whether you support St. Joseph Cathedral Parish by having your bank forward your monthly and special contributions to us via their “bill pay” service (which is what we recommend highly), or just drop a check or envelope into the collection basket at Mass each week, know that you share in the mission of Christ and His Church by your sacrifice. Keep generosity high on your list of priorities: along with time and involvement spending habits are the best indicators of the real value we place on things. The Lord is very understanding, of course, and wants us to take care of our true needs and those of our families first. Yet He also can read the real intentions of our hearts, and knows when we’re having a tough time breaking away from our natural but sinful selfishness.
In any case, thanks for all you do for your Cathedral and the wider Church community. I appreciate all you do!
Yours in the Lord Jesus, our true treasure,
Very Rev Paul D. Counce
