+JMJ
Dear Parishioners,
In just four days we come to the end of the fiscal year for the parish and the diocese. As you can see, we are below budget with the collections year-to-date. However, I want to express my gratitude for the generosity everybody has shown throughout this past fiscal year. It amazes me what we have accomplished in the last couple of years. I am thinking especially of all the repair projects.
I'm very aware that inflation is skyrocketing; and I expect it to get much, much worse in the months ahead. I know everybody is feeling the financial pinch at the gas pump and the grocery store. I certainly am! I know the generosity of this parish, and I trust that people will continue to give as they are able; and I understand that prudence will dictate that some people give less as inflation gets worse. Ask the Lord to help you figure out how much you should give, and then give this amount, without feeling guilty if it is less than what you have been able to give in the past.
It has always been a policy of mine as a pastor not to pay attention to how much people give to the church. I don't get any reports telling me how much individuals give. (The staff does enter the weekly collection data into ParishSoft, so that there is a solid record, however. I never have reason to look at those records.) I trust that if the parish staff and pastor are doing our best to serve the mission of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the heart of His Church, God will provide materially for the parish as He sees fit – always, of course, at the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Who guides every grace from God's hands.
After we close the books officially at the end of June, and have time to reconcile the bank statements that come in the following couple weeks, we'll be able to publish condensed financial reports in the bulletin, so that you can see what our financial status is. Canon Law requires the pastor to publish the financial status to parishioners once every year. Thanks again for your generosity this fiscal year! Have a blessed week!
In cordibus Iesu, Mariae et Iosephus,
Father Poggemeyer