Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: October 18, 2020
The week before last was certainly an “up and down” week for me. It certainly seems like 2020 has been full of these for us all, right?
For a moment last Monday I would have told you that not only my week but my year was totally ruined: I got one of those dreaded letters from the IRS saying that I owed them thousands in back taxes for supposedly underreporting my 2018 income! Now I knew it wasn’t true – they said I had not reported around $100,000 in income, which on my salary is pretty preposterous! – but I didn’t relax until my CPA reassured me that actually the IRS computers this year are making lots of mistakes like that. (He wants to blame the Covid virus somehow!) Anyway he took one look at the paperwork and quickly demonstrated the mistake made by the government, not me. By next month, he assured me, it will all be history. I hope so!
The far more serious “downer” was the news, which you probably read about, of two priests over in the neighboring diocese of New Orleans, who were instantly removed from the ministry when their criminal actions became known to the police and then to Church authorities. The horrible desecration of the church and altar north of Slidell was particularly outrageous. Archbishop Gregory Aymond was certainly correct in describing the situation as demonic, as he tried to reassure his clergy and faithful that this was an isolated, although horribly scandalous, event. He rushed to take the right steps to install a new altar and reconsecrate the church building. But I suspect he would agree sadly that the negative impact of these crimes and their aftermath will continue to damage the Church’s reputation. For some reason, many people think that others’ sins give them an excuse to “make up” their own morality too – that’s not true, of course, and such an attitude will always in the end be proven to be wrong. But it is discouraging to witness evil of any sort done by others.
But in the meantime, life goes on. It’s become clear that the main doors into the Parish Office need replacing. The original, heavy wood and glass doors have finally become unreliable as well as unsightly after more than 54 years of service, and the hinging and locking hardware needed to fix them is no longer available. We have the money needed to replace them – thanks to your generosity over the years into our maintenance fund – but it will be an expenditure of some substance. We’re right now soliciting bids on replacing the doors with newer, metal and glass ones.
On the “up” side, I’ve already voted in next month’s election. It was easy to walk six blocks down to the office of the Registrar of Voters and drop my ballot off. Now it’s done and I can ignore the political commercials and robocalls with a self-satisfied look on my face.
And it’s heartening that church attendance is increasing remarkably. We may not exactly be back to “normal,” but with coffee-and-doughnuts and in-person meetings resuming around the Parish, and so forth, there at least is a resumption of “familiarity.” Yes, we all still have to be cautious about the coronavirus. This is especially true for those in a higher-risk category due to age, illness, poverty or some other pre-existing condition. Still, life has been so unusual and difficult since mid-March, I think we’ll all take improvements, even small ones, whenever we can!
Still always yours in Christ,
Fr. Paul Counce
