Based on the movie, Billy: The Early Years of Billy Graham.

Based on the Narnia Chronicles movie, Prince Caspian.

As you may remember, several weeks ago I published the financial reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. This week, I am required to publish the financial report of the first quarter (18k pdf file) of the current fiscal year, that is July 1st through September 30th. Rather than provide a separate cover letter as I did the last time, my comments are being included in this column.

First, and most importantly, I am very grateful that many of you read my cover letter and listened to my pulpit comments carefully.

As you may remember, I emphasized that we had the loss of some $140,000 income per year with the termination of the lease that the City of Bridgeport had with us for our school building. Ouch.

As you know, over the last several years, our beautiful church has been in need of several expensive repairs and we can thank the dear Lord that that lease was providing the buffer to keep us in repair and solvent.

Further, I noted that our weekly collection falls short some $1200 to $1500 per week, (or some $60,000 per year) over our expenses which have been kept as low as possible already.

We do what we can to save, like utilizing the smaller and less-expensively heated and air conditioned lower church for a significant part of the year, and our staff is volunteer and part-time (and in most cases our part-time employees also volunteer extra time to help keep us afloat, God bless you!).

Nevertheless, and realizing that our economy stinks right now (a technical term I learned in college economics…) I asked you to consider in your charity helping to make up the shortfall by us all doing ‘just a little bit.’

And last week you did. To my delight (and the delight of those we owe money to…) our collection was some $500 greater that it has usually been. I pray that this is not a ‘bump,’ but rather, that you have taken my words to heart and have in your love for St. Patrick’s decided to do ‘just a little bit more.’

We are all very grateful

As you will see if you look at the comparison reports that have been inserted into the bulletin, our financial situation, so dependent on the income from the school, has continued to deteriorate.

We really do have only two options, as I’ve noted before, to increase income and to decrease expenditures. To that end, and knowing what a soft economy we have, I am continuing to work very aggressively to affect the sale of the school building. I absolutely will keep you all ‘in the loop.’ Because of the loss of that income, we have steadily had to dip into our meagre cash savings to meet operating expenses, and last week we reached a ‘milestone’ of sorts: our savings dipped below $100,000. Obviously, that’s a very serious development.

We have a wonderful Finance Council here, whose help has been invaluable. Further, several parishioners have approached me with really fine fund-raising ideas. But most importantly, we need the active participation of each and every one of you.

Our parish will survive and thrive only if everyone gets involved.

So, please, come to Mass, contribute time and treasure as your means allow, and bring a friend or two who may not be participating regularly at Mass. We want them back as friends, as family, and as participants in doing God’s work here in Bridgeport. God bless you!

About the Financial Report

The following file -Click here to download (18k pdf file) - contains eight pages with the following six financial reports:

• STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION - As of 9/30/2008
• COMPARATIVE STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION - 9/30/2008 vs. 9/30/2007
• STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008
• COMPARATIVE STATEMENTS OF ACTIVITIES - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008 vs. 7/1/2007 through 9/30/2007
• STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES - ACTUAL VERSUS BUDGET - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008
• STATEMENT OF FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES BY NATURAL CLASSIFICATION - For 7/1/2008 through 9/30/2008

A young lady approached Marcia last week and asked to be trained as an altar girl. I am grateful that she has come forward. Very grateful. And her request reminded me that I need to ‘put out the call’ for a new group of young ladies and gentlemen to be trained as altar servers. I have asked Fr. Ridley, our Parochial Vicar, to head this up and to do the actual training. We need to bolster our ranks of servers, because we need more depth and also, as our older servers ‘graduate’ and move on, we need to replace them. Any young person in the 4th grade on up is welcome.

We are also in need of lectors (readers) at Mass. I don’t know what it is about reading out loud in public, but lots of people get this certain horrified look on their faces when approached and asked to read. For many, getting up and speaking in public is hugely difficult. I respect that, but if none of us ever challenged ourselves, how can we expect to grow? Lectoring is a privilege and a ministry; if you are even mildly considering it, please call the rectory. Just give it a try! Believe it or not, I was for most of my younger years almost pathologically shy. It’s strange how God works: shy and introverted I was, but I also liked music, and wanted to play bass guitar. I did this for years in various bands, and getting up there in front of people playing bass gave me confidence to preach and proclaim God’s word. In other words, I got used to being up in front of people with practice over time. I didn’t say ‘I can’t do that!’ Instead I said, ‘Let’s at least give it a try.’ You can, too. God puts us into situations where we may grow little by little, usually enjoying ourselves along the way. Maybe he’s asking you to grow, too?

Several people have voiced concerns about some developments. A few have pointed out that they’d like to light candles but ‘there are none.’ One hinted that it might be a cost-cutting measure. Let me assure you that the temporary moratorium on candles is not financially motivated. It is safety motivated. Perhaps you’ve noticed that the candles come in blue plastic (which means flammable) containers. Now, I don’t know what rocket scientist thought that it was a good idea to try to contain fire inside a flammable cup, but several of those blue containers have caught fire in the few months I’ve been here. I asked our sexton to order glass containers for the candles, and as soon as they come in, we’ll be back to normal.

And several have asked about the bulletins. People are used to picking their bulletins up on the way into Mass. That’s fine, but I’ve also noticed (and from the altar we can see everything!) that lots of people are using the bulletins as ready reading material during Mass. That’s not courteous, of course. Would you bring a newspaper to the dinner table if you were invited to someone’s house? Of course not! And even more important, the homily is NOT a time to zone out: it is time to listen to God’s Word explained. I experimented with asking the ushers to hand the bulletins out after Mass, but that hasn’t worked out particularly well, either. (One person, seeing no bulletins on the table on his way in, asked if I was ‘too cheap’ to provide them) So please, take a bulletin, but please, don’t read it during the Mass. Thanks.

This morning, we had frost on the pumpkin. I took Mango, my wonder dog, out for a walk, and the grass was white with the first evidence that winter will soon be upon us. In just a few weeks, we’ll be starting the new liturgical season. Advent will be upon us sooner than we think.

And while the trees are still beautiful with fall foliage colors, we know that eventually, all those orange and red leaves will die, fall to the ground, and nature will be going to sleep. In a way, all those trees have to die before it can resurrect to new life next spring.

As the temperatures fall, it is important for us all to consider that we too, someday, maybe soon, maybe not-so-soon, will also have to do what the trees are doing: fall asleep, and appear to be dead. That will happen at the end of our lives. Sure, it will look pretty final, with our bodies buried in coffins under the ground and a headstone marking our place. But we know that all those maples and oaks are only dormant, sleeping until conditions are right for them to ‘live again.’

Now, a fool might look at an oak sitting in the woods in the middle of winter and say, that tree is dead. Look at it, no leaves. Let’s burn it up for firewood, it’s useless. And we’d laugh and say, ‘Wait till next spring.’ And our misinformed friend would surely think it was us who are the crazy ones, not him.

So too it is with our faith. Look around you, what do you see? Millions and millions of people living for just today, just for the moment, because they are like that person in the middle of the woods in the winter thinking that the sleeping tree is dead. They think that once the winter hits them, by which I mean the death of their bodies, then that’s all there is, and their life is over. But, we as Catholics know better. As the Lord reminds us, you judge a tree by its fruits, and next spring, if that oak tree fails to grow new leaves, then and only then do you chop it down and burn it for firewood. God does this with us with all the chances he gives us to reform and repent. He helps us to keep ‘green’ and vibrant as we journey through life through the graces he bestows. His grace is like the spring warmth which makes the sap flow.

We’re not all that different. There are the fatalists, who, convinced that their lives are extinguished at the moment of bodily death, make the same mistake the guy in the woods did when he chopped down the dormant but living tree. They live fast lives, speeding through life, sinning without remorse, trying to cram in more and more stuff because they’re convinced that death is THE END.

How do you live your life? Is it apparent to those you encounter each day that you BELIEVE in the RESURRECTION? Do you teach your children that priority number ONE is the salvation of their souls, and that those souls live forever? Do you ever fall into the trap of thinking that this life is all there is so you’d better live it fast and pleasurably, because tomorrow you might die? As the new season approaches, with the trees about to go dormant, think of the person in the woods who chopped down a vibrant life in its prime, because he was a blind fool, and resolve to be wiser.

Click here for the Saint Patrick Financials for Fiscal year 2008 (Note: 2.9 meg acrobat file)

These reports describe the financial condition of YOUR parish and we hope you find them informative and enlightening.

Please read them carefully - comments and suggestions emailed directly to Fr. Norman Guilbert are GREATLY APPRECIATED