[This State of the Parish Report was given in the context of a homily based on the readings of Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 which was the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle c. The gospel passage was Luke 13:22-30. ] “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” This is the question that is posed to Our Lord in today’s gospel. Notice that the Lord doesn’t really answer the question. Instead, he says, “strive for the narrow gate.” I think there are two things we can learn from this statement. First of all, I shouldn’t be making judgments about the eternal destiny of other people; my concern should be whether or not I am going to heaven or whether I am living a lifestyle that is going to lead me to somewhere else. My primary concern should be myself, and how I am responding to the Lord in faith. The second thing is that we need to strive to lead the Christian life; to struggle and suffer for the sake of the kingdom; to be willing to make sacrifices in order to enter the narrow gate of eternity. Today, all of you will be invited to make a personal response of faith. In the pews, there is a pledge card, but it is more than simply a pledge to give money. It is a pledge to be a Catholic Christian. It is commitment to live the Catholic faith by going to Church on Sundays and all Holy Days of obligation; to live to the best of your abilities the teachings of the Catholic Church; and to support the parish through the giving of your time, talent, and financial resources. In order to keep up with increasing expenses, the finance council is asking us to prayerfully consider increasing your Sunday contribution by $2 a week. We know that there are those who can’t do this, and we understand. However, if 200 families out of the 650 families increased their giving by $2 a week, we can continue to offer all the programs that this parish offers, including a quality Catholic Education for the people of Chillicothe. In the bulletin, there is a copy of the financial report. In accordance with church law, a version of this financial report will be submitted to the diocese. [For a more in depth explanation of the financial report, I would invite you to come to the parish council meeting which is occurring this Sunday at 9:00 AM in the parish hall.] I would also invite you to talk to one of the members of our finance council and education commission to get more details. As all of you know, money was tight last year, as money was tight for many of the families of the parish. Yet, despite our difficulties, the bills got paid by the end of the fiscal year which is June 30th. It goes to show that the Lord provides, but some of that provision comes as a result of individuals making a personal response of faith. It is the result of people giving of their time, talent, and treasure for the sake of the gospel. Obviously, our parish needs more money, but the bigger problem is the right amount of money at the right time. To be more accurate, our parish has a cash flow problem. Sometimes it takes the parish up to three months to pay its bills. Yes, we caught up with our bills by June 30th, but we did it by using advanced tuition money that was meant for this fiscal year to pay the bills that were due last fiscal year. Most parishes and institutions end up doing this, but in a way we are robbing Peter to pay Paul. As part of a plan to address this problem, the finance council has asked each parishioner to consider using Electronic Funds Transfer. This is a method where money is taken automatically out of your bank account and given to the church. Electronic Fund Transfer is one way parishes have helped eliminate the cash flow issues, and make it easier for the management of funds. This makes the handling of money more efficient, more secure, and cuts down on the possibility of inaccuracy. So, please consider using Electronic Fund Transfer. There is a place on the pledge card where you can indicate that you are interested, and you want more information. I would like to thank all of you who do respond so generously to the Lord. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. The Lord has blessed this parish with priestly and religious vocations, who serve in our diocese and outside of our diocese. Our parish offers a host of ministries and programs thanks to many people going beyond the call of duty. One of the most important ministries is the education of our young people. This year, our parish school is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new principal, Mr. John Meisinger. We look forward to the next 50 years. There are great many other projects and ministries that deserve our attention. You will notice that in the bulletin we have been listing those ministries. I would invite all of you to prayerfully consider getting involved in one of these ministries. If you think our parish is not meeting a need, then maybe the Holy Spirit is prompting you to begin a ministry to meet that need. Pray about it, and set up a meeting to talk with me. For the sake of brevity, I want to highlight just two of those projects. The fall auction is coming up. This is a big money raiser for our parish, and it is essential to the ongoing functioning of our parish. No one has yet to step forward to be the auction chair. If you are interested in being the auction chair, or just helping out on the committee, please give me a call at the rectory. We need to get the planning process underway as soon as possible. I want to thank all of you who are involved in the Saturday afternoon bingo project. Thanks to your dedication, this fund raising project has made the parish $288,000 since we started in 2005. I would ask you to continue your fine work. I would also encourage new people to volunteer with this project. The more people who volunteer, the less it ends up the burden of just a few people. While it is true that the progress we have made is a result of the hard work of many people making a response of faith, we all know that is ultimately a result of God’s grace. So, I want to remind the entire parish of the importance of prayer, especially the obligation of attending Mass on Sunday and every holy day of obligation. If we are not connected to Christ, and attuned to the Holy Spirit, we can not do the Lord’s work. This needs to be at the core of our commitment to Christ and his Church. So, now I want to invite you to strive for the narrow gate. At this time, I would ask you to make your commitment in faith. [At this time during Mass, member of the parish were asked to fill out pledge cards, as described by the address.]
Father Glenn Harris
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