En la parte abajo explico en inglés algo sobre la situación económica de la parroquia. No voy a repetirlo todo aquí. Como se puede ver, durante los últimos tres meses, tuvimos gastos de mas de trescientos mil dólares, que conforme a las proyecciones del presupuesto. Esto incluye la reparación de la línea de agua al lado oeste de la iglesia durante el mes de julio.

Los ingresos de la parroquia vienen de las colectas dominicales, tuición para los niños de la escuela y otros ingresos, por ejemplo, donaciones (estipendios) para sacramentos y educación religiosa. Las donaciones de la comunidad hispana son muy importantes para mantener la parroquia. Por ejemplo, la semana pasada recibimos $2970 en las colectas de las misas semanales y dominicales celebradas en español. En adición Uds. donaron $748 en las segundas colectas para eliminación de la deuda. También quisiera agradecer a las personas que trabajaron en la venta de comida para la eliminación de la deuda parroquial y las personas que hicieron donaciones particulares (hubo donaciones de $1,560, $267 y $96 de diferentes personas de la comunidad hispana).

Las donaciones recibidas al momento de celebrar los sacramentos también son importantes. El año pasado celebramos 442 bautismos, 53 matrimonios y 236 primeras comuniones. También hubo un buen numero de misas de quince años. Los estipendios dados en aquellos tiempos hacen posible los programas de la parroquia. Contamos con la ayuda de cada uno de Uds.

Este jueves, 17 de octubre a las 7 p.m., tendremos una sesión de escuchar para todos los miembros de la parroquia. Los invito a participar.

Someone recently told me not to worry about money. He pointed out that Mother Teresa never asked for money – and she always had enough to take care of her sisters and to help the poor.

That was pretty good advice. The Lord has told us not to worry about tomorrow, that today has problems of enough of its own. Still, I have to admit I am not as holy as Mother Teresa (I hope that admission does not shock anyone) so I do sometimes worry a little a bit. However, I also have confidence in the generosity of Holy Family parishioners – and know that we are in God’s hands. In that light I would like to give you a brief summary of our first financial quarter (July 1 to September 30, 2002).

In terms of expenses, we are pretty close to being within our budget. The total amount spent was $374,412 which was somewhat over our budget projection. This represents the total expenditure for salaries and benefits and all other expenses related to our school and overall parish during the first quarter. During that time we also were able to pay off a good number of our past due bills. It does include at least one unplanned expense – the repair of the water line on 20th Ave in early July. In spite of that expense ($1630) we were able to hold down other expenses – and thus be very close to meeting our budget projection.

However, things were not so positive on the income side. While some aspects were quite good, especially considering the continuing economic recession, other areas were somewhat behind what we had hoped. Following is a brief overview of parish income during from July through September.

In our Sunday collections we received $134,655.43. This is the total of all the first collections (Sacrificial Giving) at our seven weekend Masses during the past three months. The average Sunday collection was $10,612 which was very close to our weekly goal of $10,673. This put us about eight hundred dollars behind our budgeted goal.

On the other hand, in the two-bit collections for debt reduction $14,351 were received, along with $10,737 in special donations to help us eliminate the parish debt. Added to that were $1,999 in food sales after the Spanish Masses and $620 from the parish picnic and food sales. That makes a debt reduction total of $27,707 during the first three months of the current fiscal year. Wonderful!

One of our main apostolates is our parish school. It is maintained by tuition payments, fund raising activities such as the Auction, Jogathon, etc. and by the annual parish subsidy. (Last year the subsidy came to over two hundred thousand dollars – an amount we cannot afford this year.) We are doing better this year as far as collection of tuition. Still, there is a considerable shortfall. School tuition billed during the first quarter totaled $132,500 of which we collected $109,803. Our budget required $119,166, so at end of September we were behind. That is the bad news. However, there is some good news in that we are making good efforts to collect back tuition, which have born good results during the past few weeks. Since the school is the financial responsibility of the entire parish, I will do my best to keep you informed. Holy Family School receives almost no help from the government, so in effect we are saving taxpayers over two million dollars annually (260 students times $7,700 per pupil cost in Seattle Public Schools).

During the first quarter we did have other significant sources of income: rental income, sacramental preparation fees, devotional offerings, sale of religious goods, BASS fees, grant revenues, scholarship proceeds and liturgy fees. From those sources of income we received a total of $67,094. Again, wonderful!

Many of our parishioners give generously at the time of reception of sacraments. Without those contributions (stipends) we would be in great financial difficulty. Regarding sacraments, last year we had 442 baptisms (33 of whom were adults or youth) 53 marriages and 236 first communions. That plus Mass attendance (which has doubled in the past ten years from about 1500 to over three thousand) indicates we have great potential as a parish.

Of course, our greatest potential is not so much in terms of money, important as finances are, but in terms of stewardship of time and talents. This year we are forming a Stewardship Commission to help coordinate those who desire to give volunteer service through the parish. On the back you will find a partial list of parish ministries which are looking for volunteers.

Our parish council and other consultative bodies are working with me toward the developing the full potential of our parish. This Thursday, October 17, at 7 p.m. we will have an All Parish Listening Session to give a presentation regarding needs and dreams for the future and to hear your feedback. Please plan on attending. This is the final listening session before our Council puts together a strategic plan for Holy Family.

Stewardship of Time and Talent

Your help is needed in the following areas:

Lectors These two vital liturgical ministries are open to any baptized and confirmed Catholic. The Ceremonial of Bishops suggests that Lectors are the first Catechists of a parish and share in that apostolate. If you have a good strong reading voice, contact Greg Miller through the parish office.

Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist have the awesome privilege of assisting the priests and deacons in ministering the Body and Blood of the Lord during Sunday Mass. If you feel drawn to assisting the priests and deacons in this way, contact the priests, deacons, or Lin Fulwiler for more information on training and scheduling.

Adult Choir & Cantors Do you enjoy singing? Help our choirs and cantors enhance Sunday Masses! Contact Pat Butler for the Saturday 5pm or Sunday 11am Masses and Tom Weber for the Sunday 8am Mass. The adult choir practices 7pm Thursdays during the school year, and the 8am cantors practice a half hour before the 8am Mass. The 5pm and 11am music focuses on contemporary and traditional hymns, while our 8am music focuses on traditional hymns and Latin chants.

Childrens’ Choir Would you like your child to sing with the childrens’ choir at the 8am Mass on the first Sunday of the month? Contact Erin Durrett! Ms. Durrett is a talented musician and voice coach with several years of experience in St. Jame’s Cathedral’s womens’ schola. The music tends toward the traditional and includes Latin chants as well as other traditional hymns. All children 1st grade through high school who want to learn music or have musical ability are encouraged to participate. There is a once a month practice the Saturday prior to the Sunday Mass.

Altar Servers All single boys and men are encouraged to serve the priests during Mass. While anyone is able to be an altar server, Fr. Bloom and Fr. Velasco want to encourage the young men of our parish to investigate and perhaps discover vocations to the priesthood. If you are interested in becoming an altar server or you know someone who might enjoy participating in this kind of service, please contact Fr. Ramon or Mike Fox. The next training session will take place in early November. Stay tuned for time and date.

Money Counters Every Monday morning three dedicated teams of your fellow parishioners gather to count our collections. They could really use your help! The commitment is once every three weeks for about 4 hours Monday morning (or more often if you like). Contact Tom Weber, Nell Wheeler, Betty Weller, Jim Lambeau or Tom Swim if you are interested in helping out.

Building & Landscape Maintenance

We have beautiful parish buildings and grounds! If you have experience in landscaping, electricity or other types of building and grounds maintenance, Walter needs you! We would like to establish a committee to coordinate the activities of volunteers and identify needs. Please contact Walter Michelin through the parish office.

Ladies’ Sodality The Ladies’ Sodality provides vital assistance to the parish through cleaning the liturgical appointments, providing hospitality for funeral receptions and many other things. They are currently sponsoring the installation of a long awaited railing in the sanctuary. They also enjoy spiritual activities and fellowship with other women in the parish. The Ladies meet monthly ____ in the Ailbe House Library. If you are unable to attend, please contact Mary Monsen for other ways you can participate. All women in the parish are welcome to attend our meetings and help us Friday mornings in cleaning the church!

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus are an integral part of our parish and Catholic life in the United States. All men in the parish are welcome and encouraged to attend and become members! The Knights sponsor our annual Crab Feed and Valentines’ Dance, monthly Pancake Breakfasts, and also sponsor seminarians. Monthly meetings are _____ in the Ailbe House Youth Room below the chapel. Please join us. If you can’t attend the meeting, contact Ross Youngs for other ways you can participate.

St. Vincent de Paul Our St. Vincent de Paul Society is a long standing part of a worldwide Catholic charitable organization. We always are searching for new members to help us serve the needy in our local community. Membership is open to and encouraged for anyone. We meet monthly at _____ in the Ailbe House Library. If you can’t attend those meetings, contact Nell Wheeler or Don Butler for other ways to participate and lend a hand to fellow parishioners in their time of need.

Ushers Do you enjoy helping people feel comfortable in new situations? Ushers provide hospitality to the uninitiated and of course the orderly collection of our monetary gifts. They also help answer questions for visitors. Please consider joining our corps of ushers! Anyone high school age or older is welcome to assist. Ability to speak other languages is especially helpful. Contact Vicente Bolisig in the parish office for information.

(This is a partial list. We will be including other areas in upcoming bulletins. November 17 is Commitment Sunday for Parish Stewardship.)