Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: June 28, 2020
At last weekend’s Saturday 4 pm Mass and Sunday 8:30 am Mass we actually reached a milestone attendance point: both of those Masses had about half of their pre-pandemic usual congregation! The 10:30 am Sunday Mass attendance was “up,” but not as much as at the other two Masses. It’s really great that all numbers continue to increase slowly. The slowness shows proper caution but the increase shows also the eagerness everyone has to assemble and pray together! Thank you!
I also want to thank you again for continuing to support the Cathedral financially in these difficult times. Because of your generosity we’ve been able to continue to pay our bills and meet our other financial obligations to our staff and to diocesan offices. But not every Church parish and institution has been so fortunate. I worry especially about the financial viability of some of our area’s Catholic schools with questions of future enrollments so uncertain. And you may have heard that the Catholic Life Center has had to begin the difficult process of laying off some workers and closing some of its offices. Please pray for those who’ve lost their jobs, and for Bishop Duca and the other diocesan officials who have had to make such tough decisions: it’s not an easy time for any of them.
Here on Cathedral Square we haven’t been challenged in that way, praise God. The shutdown of services from mid-March to June didn’t help our income, but it did result in some savings in our usually massive electricity costs. And while we hated saying goodbye to our choir a month before Easter instead of at Pentecost, this also provided a modest payroll savings to us. Now the challenge is to continue the Lord’s work while also keeping a sharp eye on the balance sheet, to make sure your donations are always wisely spent!
Naturally in last week’s issue of The Carpenter I was too optimistic about one thing. I had said we were hoping to re-open our Parish’s Food Pantry in July. A consultation among its staff showed they’re not so eager, so it will be August at the earliest that we resume that important ministry. Since our volunteers – and, honestly, the clients we serve as well – trend older than the general population, we don’t want to put anyone in greatly increased danger of transmitting the coronavirus to them. So we’ll continue to see how things go, and try to make the best decisions down the road.
It’s this kind of thing that is particularly regrettable: while prayer and worship are fundamental building blocks of Catholic Christianity, so too are works of charity. And we lose something by limiting our charitable activity merely to offering funds to others who actually work with the poor. Personal involvement in ministry is indispensable for Christians.
And this reminds me of another, favorite fundamental foundation of our faith: fellowship. I particularly miss the one-on-one contacts and interaction with each other that happens at our potluck suppers, over coffee-and-donuts, and just in the conversations and care that we share while visiting before and after church. Whenever the Knights of Columbus feed us their BBQ chicken and jambalaya, and the Ladies of the Cathedral host a bake sale, we benefit from more than food. I guess what I’m saying is that while we might have to take a year off from some of our most beloved activities – perhaps even GRAND Day and The Cathedral Evening – we don’t have to like it!
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
