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Fourteenth Sunday of the Year
3 July 2011
Dear Friends in Christ,
A few items for your consideration:
1. As you read this column, I have already begun my long vacation – the first since I returned to the parish from my sabbatical four years ago. While I am away, Father Michael Cassabon will be responsible for everything I ordinarily do in the parish, and you can reach him at the parish office by calling 864.679.4101 or emailing him at mpcassabon@gmail.com. Father Cassabon will remain with us until early August, and Monday will be his day off. During his brief stay with us, Father Cassabon will celebrate the 4th anniversary of his ordination on 27 July. Enjoy the gifts he will bring to the altar and the pulpit, and please welcome him to St. Mary’s; I will be back in the first week of August.
2. With this weekend we begin a new fiscal year, and for the first time in several years, we need to raise our average weekly donation from $29,500 to $30,500 – an increase of just over 3%. During the years of the Great Recession, we have done everything possible to keep costs under control, and we finished the old fiscal year slightly ahead of our budget. We are in the black, and we intend to stay that way with your help. This year, however, is a particular challenge because of an 11% increase in the cost of health insurance in addition to the normal cost of living increases that all of us experience. And that is why I need to ask each household in the parish to give careful consideration to your stewardship decisions and, where possible, make a little extra room for the parish in your financial decisions.
As ever, our stewardship guidelines should assist you in making choices, and by Scriptural precept, ten percent of everything we have belongs to God and is to be used for the good of others. Of this ten percent, we should suggest the following division of resources: 5% of your income directly to the parish in the Sunday offertory, 1% of your income directly to our Bishop through the Bishop’s Stewardship Appeal, and the remaining 4% to charities of your choice, including the parish’s ongoing needs for capital improvements.
3. Speaking of capital improvements, you can see this weekend that great progress has been made on the transformation of the western boundary of our campus. An above ground irrigation system will remain on the newly seeded ground until we are sure that the grass is strong and healthy, and then the pipes will be removed. And in the next couple of weeks, the entire new section of the campus will be surrounded by a decorative fence that will keep the interior section of our campus secure, most especially to insure the safety of our school. Thank you for your generous commitment to our capital campaign which makes projects like this possible.
Father Newman