Sunday, June 04, 2006
ITTTTTT'SSSSSSS BACK
Vibrant Parish Life II
The "Call to Worship Prayer for Pentecost" was in the bulletin this morning and Father read the prayer during Mass. No one joined him in reading it, however. This is the text:
Almighty God,
We hear in sacred scripture: "In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body," and today we especially remember this call. In striving for this unity through the clustering of parishes, help us to break down the walls that may divide us and replace those walls with an open heart and oneness of spirit. May all parishes and communities work together, hand in hand, in one Spirit - to build up your Kingdom which has no barriers. Through the waters of our baptism, may we be one in you - giving glory, honor and praise in all our words and deeds. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Talk about hokey...
Before Mass began, our pastor gave a brief talk about the lack of priests, the fact that the priests we still have are becoming older and sickly, and some parishes are no longer financially solvent.
Our Mass was said by our regular, retired visiting priest. It was clear today that his health has taken a significant turn for the worse. He was not able to distribute communion. He was not able to participate in the recessional. He lost his train of thought during the homily. None of these things have happened before.
Our parish is not large, though we have a viable school. I seem to recall that we have around 6,000 families, but am not absolutely sure about that. Our church holds about 600 people and is not usually full at the Mass I attend.
In 2002 we had a "Minimum Weekly Need" to sustain the parish of $12,000 and were getting around $10,000 in the weekly collection.
In 2003 the Minimum was $12,000 and we were still getting around $10,000. The "Deficit to Date" began appearing in 2003 Sunday bulletins. On Feb. 9 it was $50,113.50.
In 2004 the need was $13,000 and we were getting around $12,000. The deficit on March 14 was $46,888.12. This is reported as "Deficit to Date (Fiscal Year 7-1-03)". I don't know whether there is an additional deficit for 2002-2003.
Today's bulletin reported a minimum needed of $15,000, and a Regular Collection of $12,653. Deficit to Date (Fiscal Year 7-1-05) is $140,440.13.
We have not had a financial report for many years.
For at least a year my husband has been saying that something is wrong with the numbers. I've tried to make light of it. But now we are hearing that some parishes are not financially viable and may close.
My mother-in-law's parish has a much larger church and more than one priest as well as a school. She and I have often compared the Sunday collection figures. Both our parish and hers get about the same amount of money each Sunday. They do have fundraisers at her parish which we don't have.
It occurred to both my husband and me today that there may be a plan in the works to close our parish when we no longer have a pastor. The church is small. And obviously the parish is in debt so it is not financially viable. And it occurred to both of us at the same time that this could very well be an orchestrated arrangement that has been in the works for quite some time.
Trust is hard to come by in this American Catholic Church.
How does one "strive for unity" with a parish that has been heterodox, with a modern church that doesn't look Catholic? What does one do when the orthodox parish that has been a refuge from heterodoxy in the area is closed down? I've known for a long time that this day would eventually come. Looks like it's nearly here. After all of the agony of the last 40 years, it appears the modernists are going to win in the end thanks to an arranged destruction of the priesthood by our bishops.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
