State of the Parish Report
2007
Today’s gospel reminds us that we need to approach the
Lord with a humble, persistent faith. In
our prayer, we need to approach the Lord, not with a list of our
accomplishments, but with a clear, honest, and realistic vision of what we are,
where we need to be, and what we need to have.
Back in the 1980’s, it was trendy to have various
institutions come up with mission statements.
This statement was to give a guiding principle to the decision making
process of that organization. Of
course, there is what the organization says, and what it does.
If the truth be known, the real mission statement of an organization is
to be found in their annual financial report.
By looking at the spending habits, you see the real priorities of the
organization, and their true guiding principles.
So, it is only right and just that at least once a year, we would take a
look at the financial status of our parish in order to gauge where we are in
terms of our mission.
In accordance with canon law, the parish is to submit a
report on its financial status. An
annual report will be submitted to the bishop.
An abbreviated version has been inserted in today’s bulletin: one sheet
has a summary of the financial situation of both parish and the school; there is
a second sheet which is a report from the Education commission on the many
initiatives they have accomplished, and some of the projects they have planned
for next year. A copy of my
presentation this weekend will also be posted on the parish website.
As you look through the financial report you will see that
we paid all our bills and we have money in the bank. What you may not realize by looking just at the numbers is
that all of our resources were used in one way or another to empower people to
spread the gospel and to live the gospel message in their lives.
Much of our money goes to providing Catholic Education to
the young people of our parish. I
am happy to say that the school is doing well and the enrollment is holding
steady. We all know that Catholic
Education begins with the example of the parents. Parents are the primary teachers of their children. This year
we have implemented a parent volunteer policy which requires all the parents to
set the example when it comes to Christian service as it pertains to the parish.
In our ongoing attempt to strengthen the Catholic Identity of our school,
this year we are emphasizing seven principles of Catholic Social Justice
teaching which includes such principles as the dignity of human life, the rights
of workers, and the protection of the environment.
We are being proactive in improving our religious education
program in general. After many
years of service, Bill Galindo has stepped down as our Director of Religious
Education, but he will still be actively involved in our altar server program,
and other facets of our youth ministry program.
On behalf of the parish, I want to thank Bill for all his service to the
parish, and the service that he continues to give to the parish. Kitty
Henry is our new Director of Religious Education.
We are excited in having her at the helm of the religious education
program because of her experience in teaching religion. Under the leadership of
the CCD subcommittee, we have initiated a new religious education program for
the CCD students. It promises to be an excellent vehicle to help educate our
children, but also to empower parents in their role as the primary educators of
their own children. I think that
this program has the potential to build up the communion of the family, and in
general the communion of the parish family.
Theresa Meister is heading up our high school youth ministry program this
year, and she has many exciting things planned for the upcoming year, and for
many years ahead.
Last fiscal year we offered many adult education programs.
One of which was a parish mission that was given by Archabbot Lambert
Riley. The parish mission was
funded by a “Rooted in Faith” grant along with private donations.
We offered opportunities for adult bible studies, and we are in the
process of increasing the opportunities for adult bible studies.
Deacon Bob is currently offering a bible study twice a week; Wednesday
evenings and Thursday Mornings. We continue to offer a weekly R.C.I.A. program,
which is open to the entire parish. The
topic for the R.C.I.A. program is published in the bulletin every week.
For any adult who needs to be confirmed, it’s not too late
to join R.C.I.A. If you join now, you can be confirmed at the Easter Vigil.
This upcoming Thursday, October 25th, we will
have a special guest presenter at our R.C.I.A. class. Dr. Doug Grandon, the Diocesan Director of Catechetics, will
be talking on the constitution of the Church, and his own conversion story.
Dr. Grandon was a former Episcopalian Priest who converted to Catholicism
and now works for the diocese. He
will tell of his journey to the Roman Catholic Church.
I would like to encourage all of you to come to this presentation which
will take place on this Thursday at 7:00 PM in the School library.
We all know that all of us are meant to be Disciples in
Mission. For the last two years, we have offered the Disciples in Mission
Program during Lent, and we will offer it one final year this upcoming Lent. You
will also notice that we have moved the parish library to the Church.
These books are available throughout the day, and we have great hope of
adding more books, videos, CD’s, and audio cassettes, so that the entire
parish may continue their education in the faith.
We have also worked on promoting the foreign missions.
During the summer, we were blessed in having Fr. Cyril who is a
missionary priest in Tanzania. At the end of his stay, we had a second collection for him,
and were able to raise about $10,000 for him, which is amazing.
Even though the parish was generous to him, I think we were blessed by
his presence with us. I am hoping to host another African priest next summer.
There are many projects that are in the works for this
fiscal year. Sandy Pomazal and
Steve Verdun are working on getting a new parish pictorial director together.
This is the first pictorial directory in five years.
Sign-up for photo shoots should be available after this Mass.
We hope to better insure the health and safety of our
parish. The school currently has
security cameras, and a new lock system to prevent intruders from entering the
school. We hope to mount two more
cameras that would record the activities that might be occurring in the parking
lot and around the Church.
We are also in the process of improving the sound system
for the choir. This new sound
system for the choir will be blended with the new system which amplifies the
pulpit and sanctuary area. Hopefully,
this will solve some of the problems we have been having with feedback and
distortion.
In the last few weeks, there has been progress with the
parish hall project. The Sam
Longman Estate is in the final stages of being settled. Hopefully within the next few weeks, the parish will be
getting the actual financial gift which is designated for a new parish hall.
When this occurs, we will be reconstituting the parish hall committee.
Once this occurs, it wouldn’t be surprising if we see the new parish
hall being built in the near future.
One challenge that we have is reinvigorating the building
and grounds committee. As it is
right now, the building and grounds committee does not really have a chair, and
it hasn’t been able to give the parish input on which projects should have
priority and which one should wait, and which projects should be hired out, and
which projects we should do ourselves. So,
even though we have many volunteers doing various projects, we have not had an
organized effort that reflects the priorities of the entire parish.
So, we need a chairman for this committee, and a few of the volunteers to
be a part of this committee to evaluate the needs of the parish.
Of course, in order for us to continue our mission it
demands the support of the people of this parish. I want to thank all of you who support the parish
through your weekly contributions. This
is the primary way we continue to fund the various projects that we do.
I want to thank all of you who volunteer with the Saturday afternoon
bingo. This has brought to the
parish more the $150,000. I want to
encourage people to continue to support this project.
It is now a major source of revenue for our parish.
I want to thank all of you who support our annual parish
auction. We hope to raise $30,000
with the auction. We have made some
changes this year in the hopes of reaching more people.
We have a dinner dance with a silent auction on Saturday night on
November 3rd, with the live auction back on Sunday afternoon on November 4th.
That way if people can’t come one day, they can make it the next day.
A Bake Sale and Craft Sale will be going on all day on both those days.
To help kick off the auction the K.C./parents club breakfast is next
weekend on Sunday, October 28th.
Most of all I want to thank all of you for your prayers.
I want to thank all of the people who sacrifice some of their time on
Friday afternoon to spend time with our Lord during Eucharistic adoration.
I want to thank all of the folks who come to pray at daily Mass.
I want to thank all of those who devote themselves to praying the rosary
everyday after Mass, and those who come to pray the rosary before the 8:00 AM
Sunday Mass. I want to thank the Tuesday Night prayer group for their
prayer of healing that they offer to the parish.
I want to thank all of you who come Sunday after Sunday to Mass offering
your praise to God. I truly view all of you as the prayer warriors of the
parish.
My hope is that we can continue to persevere like the widow in today’s Gospel. That we would not approach the Lord with pride over our accomplishments, but rather approach the Lord with simple faith, and true humility. This true humility brings us to the Lord not out of an empty sense of justifying ourselves, but because we know that we need the Lord more than we need the air we breathe.
Father Glenn Harris