Greetings in Christ, all!
Family Formation starts this weekend and I am soooo excited! I’ll be teaching the parent sessions immediately after the 10 am Mass in the St. Joseph Hall. I can’t wait! At my last assignment, I had three parishes and we did this at one of them. I just loved it. I look forward to seeing as many parents as I can who want to come. I’ll be with you from 11:00(ish) till noon. Then, you can grab your kids and head back home for a great day together.
I’d like to talk to you about collections this week and I’ll start with a little history.
When COVID hit, we were not allowed to take up collections anymore. We asked you all to sign up for online giving and the result was amazing. Our collections went up and our budget became much more predictable. Since then, we have tried to avoid taking collections because people who give online might feel self-conscious about watching a basket go by, knowing they’ve given, but appearing not to be giving.
Our Mass attendance is up, our school attendance is up and all things are going well, but truth be told, we really are struggling with rising insurance costs and other such things and after a lot of prayer and discussion, I think we’ve hit the point where we need to pass the basket at Masses again.
The process will be as simple and non-intrusive as we can pull off. We’ll just give baskets to the people in the back row and send them forward, asking those who can and who are not giving online to please give whatever reflects the value of their ability to worship at Holy Family. When the baskets get to the front, we’ll ask the front pew folks to either give them to an usher or place them at the front of the altar.
To run an institution of this size takes a lot and I’m so grateful for any help you can give. Please remember, whether you are giving online or in the basket, it’s a huge help to us and frankly, giving is what we are called to do.
I’m so grateful for you all. Thanks for hearing me out and for considering being a regular contributor.
For all of you who give faithfully online already, we are so very grateful for you and ask you to continue your faithful support.
If you are new to giving, and prefer to sign up to give digitally, you can hold your phone over this QR code. It should take you right to the website where you can sign up to give digitally every month or week, or whatever you prefer.
God bless you all, I’m so terribly grateful to God and you for letting me be your priest.
Fjk