I hope you all had a good New Year. As we prepared for our first Parish Finance Council meeting of the New Year, my staff and I discovered some very telling and encouraging data that I want to share with all of you. Despite the challenges that all of you have faced as we continue to navigate this coronavirus pandemic, your financial support of your parish has been unflagging. Even though only about half of those who ordinarily attend Sunday Mass are coming – and I certainly appreciate and understand the many reasons why they’re not – our Sunday collection income year-to-date as well as our special Christmas collection are actually higher than last year, and our annual Stewardship Appeal has brought in $45,000 more year-to-day than last year. These are the three major sources of income for our parish over the course of the year and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting us so generously. Your support has allowed us to continue to provide all of our services without any interruption in the midst of this pandemic and I am very grateful for your support. Of course, our expenses continue and we always have surprises. The HVAC in our gym died just before Christmas; it will cost about $80,000 to replace the 21 year-old unit. So, I count on your continued support as we begin the New Year.
I also want to call to your attention to another milestone for our parish. As you know, the Catholic Charities Appeal is the major fundraising effort that our Archdiocese sponsors every year. This Appeal allows the Archdiocese to provide much-needed services to the thousands of needy people throughout the Archdiocese. You can imagine how important these services have been this year as so many people lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. Our parish has long been one of the top three supporters of this Appeal, even though there are 62 parishes larger than ours. This year, we are the top contributor; to date, our donations total $193,000. This is well above our goal of $152,000. It is also the most we have ever contributed and even exceeds the donations of the largest parish in our Archdiocese, with a population five times ours. Your support for this very important Appeal, as well as the many other special collections that we have throughout the year, tells me that you recognize our Lord’s call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and give shelter to the homeless and from the abundance of your hearts, you have responded with great generosity, even as you faced your own challenges through this very stressful year. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to bring all of this good news to your attention as we begin a New Year in God’s grace. As pastor of this parish – now almost completing ten years here – I want to thank all of you who have been so supportive of our parish over this past, very difficult year, and commend you for your edifying support of our Archdiocesan Catholic Charities Appeal. I don’t know what else to say except that we are a very special parish – thanks and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
– Monsignor Brouwers