Dear Friends of our Pastorate,
This weekend, we celebrate the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This weekend’s Gospel is the account of the question posed to Jesus concerning the payment of the census tax (Mt 22:15-21). This question may seem innocent, but the ones who are asking it are really trying to trap Jesus so that they can eventually have a reason to arrest him. Jesus outmaneuvers them by responding—if it is Caesar’s image on the coin that pays the tax, then give that coin back to Caesar as it must belong to him. However, he adds that they also need to repay to God what belongs to God, which we can see as a reference to humanity being made in the image of God. Each one of us is made in God’s image; therefore, we have a duty, even an obligation to pay or surrender to God what is God’s—and that is our very lives! What is God due from you? How do you repay to God what belongs to God? What parts of your life do you offer (or surrender) to God each day? These are good questions to ponder this week as we continue our lifelong journey of conversion—of turning our lives back to God.
A couple of weeks ago, we published our parishes’ financial reports for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023. At this time of the year, it is also part of my due diligence as your pastor to ask you to consider making a financial recommitment to your parish for this fiscal year. Part of that request is to ask for you to consider making, if your finances allow, an increase in your weekly offertory. For example, if you usually give $10/week, could you increase it to $11/week? If you give $100/month, could you increase it to $105/month? Or, if you have any mandatory IRA distributions that you must take before the end of the year, would you consider making a donation to the parish from those funds? Any increase would be appreciated. Personally, I give the same amount in offertory income each month to both parishes. This month, I increased my giving by about 5% because I believe in our mission and the need to fund it. If you could help us by making a small increase in your offertory, it would be most appreciated. Any money donated to the parishes through the offertory collection will be used solely by the parish to support our parish programs and operations. Thank you for your consideration of my request.
Our Pastorate Mission Team met last week to begin reviewing the feedback we received from the listening sessions we held over the summer. Everyone was able to attend, which was great! The team will continue meeting on a regular basis as we work together to develop our Pastorate’s plan for evangelization as guided by the Archbishop’s Pastoral Plan – A Light Brightly Visible 2.0. We also reviewed and discussed a name for our Pastorate. One comment made by the team was that whatever name is chosen, our Catholic identity needed to be clearly stated in it, so… stay tuned for more details!
Thank you for keeping our Pastorate in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
