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JillD
Member
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 754 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 11:29 am |
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When I was in evangelical "faith communities," the topic of giving was a regular one - at least yearly. The pastor would show from Scripture what a blessing it is to give to the work of God and how He has promised to "open the windows of Heaven" to those who give. (Malachi 3:10) Well, my heart is aching for my priest. He does 4 Masses on Sundays, often alone, and also does Masses at 2 other mission parishes nearby. This he does in English and Spanish, by the way! There are probably 1000 families associated with these three parishes and the weekly giving is around $5000 - about $5 per family! (The amount is in the bulletin each week.) Maybe it's a cultural thing, but I see a lot of people, a LOT of people, put in $1. Surely their income was more than $10 that week! (I know I shouldn't look, but it's hard not to see...)
Our pastor's annual income - also made public - is about $12,000. I know his home is provided, but still... That's WAY below minimum wage! And he works so very HARD...
Is there anything I can do? How can I pray effectively and specifically for the parishioners to realize that there is no rich Catholic Church keeping the lights on and the A/C running? Is the topic of giving ever the homily topic? Is this simply considered an "off-limits" topic in the Catholic Church?? It makes me sad.
Jill
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"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret." Ps 139
"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men." Ps 140
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Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1357 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 11:37 am |
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| Jill, before joining the catholic church I had the misconception that it was very rich, and that the vatican supported all the parishes. Wow was I shocked! Protestants give much more willingly it seems.
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Annie
Banned
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 734 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 01:01 pm |
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I try to tithe off the top and when I told my priest that he just about fell over. Glad he didn't bonk his head on somethin'. Poor guy, break out the smellin' salts, will ya?
I think about this cuz I'm a financially oriented person. I would like to hear pastors explain more to people about the financial crisis some parishes are really in.
Sometimes the results of the Bishop's Annual Appeal points this up. You divide the total by the number of families in the parish. the individual parishes and their amounts are listed in the back of the diocesan newspaper. Some of the numbers are downright shameful.
And wow, your priest makes half what mine does and our cost of living here is much less than out there. Somethin' ain't right.
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Annie
Ora et labora
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Annie
Banned
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 734 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 01:03 pm |
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JillD wrote: Is there anything I can do? How can I pray effectively and specifically for the parishioners to realize that there is no rich Catholic Church keeping the lights on and the A/C running? Is the topic of giving ever the homily topic? Is this simply considered an "off-limits" topic in the Catholic Church?? It makes me sad.
Jill
I don't just pray about it, I openly discuss it with people, especially people I notice driving Lexuses and carrying Gucci bags. I don't pry, I just ask them to pray with me about the horror of the parish finances. Sometimes gets a shocked look.
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Annie
Ora et labora
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Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1357 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 01:14 pm |
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| The lady who heads up our "soup kitchen" has to make a plea from time to time for people to give to the poor boxes. We have a large, somewhat affluent parish, and it's a disgrace that she has to do that. Our pastor has asked us to give 5% of our gross income in our regular offering, and then another 5% divided among other ways, including the bishop's fund for the diocese, etc.
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