Weekly Column

June 13, 2010

Dear Friends,

I believe we can all look back on the past twelve months at Holy Cross Parish and agree that it was a good year. We are fortunate that the quality of the various programs and activities offered here at Holy Cross are of high quality, presumably( and hopefully) meeting the spiritual needs of our parishioners and attracting even more people to participate in them each subsequent year. This is a communal effort on the part of all the members of the parish. Everyone who generously shares their time and talent by participating in at least one activity a year contributes to the vitality of our parish. (And of course your sharing of your treasure financially supports the many programs of the parish.) I thank all of you who have supported the parish over the past year in each of these ways, building up and strengthening our parish community.

In particular, I am most grateful to the pastoral team and staff, who perform their various roles with great competency and dedication to Holy Cross Parish. Anne Tarallo continues to tweak and develop our Generations of Living Faith program, this year adding the extra “Just for Kids” monthly classes for the younger children and the Lenten series of classes for the junior high youth. Anne as well works tirelessly on our Confirmation Program and the Youth Mass, and contributes in many additional ways to the ministry provided by the pastoral team. Deacon George continued, in his part-time capacity this past year, to offer challenging and meaningful homilies, the weekly “Seeking God” classes, marriage preparations, pastoral counseling, and other pastoral services. John Barata continued to develop our Youth Ministry program, offering quality programs in catechesis, spirituality, worship, and prayer, as well as social activities for the youth. He was an invaluable resource to a number of teens, and some parents, offering guidance and support to them. Chris Iannitelli devotes many hours rehearsing with our adult, youth, and children’s choirs, with our cantors, and with the many instrumentalists we have, especially those at the youth mass. The quality of music at our masses and other liturgies, such an important element of our parish liturgy, is a testament to Chris’s hard work. Father Larry inspires us in his preaching, and among his many areas of ministry in the parish, brings comfort to the homebound and sick, prepares our catechumens in the R.C.I.A. program, assists with Bible Study, and coordinates parish liturgy and worship.

We are blessed with a wonderful support staff that keeps the parish functioning so smoothly. Gail Shea coordinates so much parish activity from the main office in a professional and pleasant manner, and is an invaluable support to the parish team. Bob DiFabio continues to oversee the parish buildings and grounds with great care, and can be proud of the beauty of our grounds and the condition of our parish plant. Part time this year and next, Bob has been ably assisted by P.J. Celia, a very energetic and hardworking addition to the staff. Debbie Kelley provides an invaluable service as our parish bookkeeper, taking care of financial record keeping and paper work, as well as the bulletin and the parish web site. And I save for last Anne DiSanto, who provides music ministry with our Resurrection Choir at the “last farewell” of our parishioners. We are so fortunate to have someone of Anne’s talent as a composer and performer of Christian contemporary music offering this important music ministry to our families as they bid farewell to their loved ones.

I am a very fortunate pastor to have a pastoral team and staff of this caliber. And they are some of the most enjoyable people with whom one could ever hope to work. They, along with you, the faithful, committed, and generous parishioners of Holy Cross, make this parish the wonderful faith community it is. God bless you for all you are, and do, for Holy Cross Parish. Enjoy the summer months ahead.

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

June 6, 2010

Dear Friends,

Many of us will be away for the summer months, either on vacations that will take us away from the parish for a few weekends, or on the Cape for many if not most of the summer weekends. You’ve probably seen church signs or cartoons that remind us that summer is not a time to take a vacation from God. Since vacations are meant to be times of renewal and regeneration, making time to renew ourselves spiritually helps to round out the regeneration of a vacation experience. Summer is also not a time to take a vacation from supporting our parish, especially financially.

There are perhaps three ways by which people support the church financially (or give of their “treasure,” using the Sacrificial Offering terms of offering ones time, talent, and treasure.) Some parish households make a conscious decision to commit a certain amount of their yearly income (similar to the parish request that we offer 2% of our income for the upkeep of the parish) and then donate it on an annual, semi-annual, quarterly, monthly, or weekly basis. Others decide to donate a certain amount each week, which is still a form of “tithing” a certain percentage of one’s income to the parish. And some may simply see what they have available on a given Sunday and donate that at the mass.

In terms of the financial health of our parish, I would certainly encourage all parishioners to use the first or second approach, which I believe the vast majority of our parishioners do. For those who donate on a weekly basis, which is also the majority of parishioners, we need to keep in mind those weekends when we will be away from the parish, and continue to place our weekly offering in the envelopes for those weekends, in order to donate those envelopes at the next Sunday mass we attend at Holy Cross. The reason I mention this is because I believe this practice would go a long way in helping us to achieve financial stability and avert additional pastoral staff reductions similar to Deacon George going from part time to quarter time next year to help balance our budget.

I am most grateful to all our faithful parishioners who are financially supporting the parish to the best of their ability during this recession. As parishioners return to work or family incomes rise, our parish income will also increase. In the meantime, thank you to all who are financially supporting our wonderful parish to the extent they can reasonably do so. For the most part, I am thanking you, who attend mass and read this pastor’s column every Sunday, and who contribute financially to the parish on a regular basis. Thank you! Holy Cross is certainly worth devoting our time, talent, and treasure to, so that it remains the vibrant parish that offers so much to us.

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

May 30, 2010

Dear Friends,

Last fall I introduced the Holy Cross Parish 3 Phase Fiscal Stability Plan for 2010 through 2013, by which we hope to achieve fiscal stability for our parish. The plan will ensure adequate income for both our regular operating expenses and payment of our $1.1 million debt on the parish center.

I first wish to thank each and every parishioner who is financially supporting our parish to the best of their ability. For some, this entails a three-figure weekly contribution. For others, especially our elderly on fixed incomes or those presently unemployed, this weekly contribution is substantially less, but equally generous in terms of their financial resources. You, the faithful parishioners of Holy Cross Parish who attend mass each Sunday, are the backbone of our parish in your sacrificial giving of time, talent, and treasure. Our weekly collections have increased over the past year due to your commitment to Holy Cross Parish. My sincerest thanks to you!

At the same time, we are currently about $200 a week below the weekly goal set for July 1, 2010 that is necessary for fiscal stability without pastoral staff layoffs. For this reason, I have found it necessary to ask Deacon George to go from part time to quarter time pastoral associate, a request that he graciously accepted for the good of the parish. As you’ll recall, Deacon George himself offered to go from full time to part time pastoral associate this year to help lessen our projected deficit for this fiscal year. He was equally generous and solicitous of the parish in accepting my proposal to go quarter time next fiscal year.

Next year, as the parish deacon, George will continue to preach every few Sundays and perform baptisms and weddings. As the parish pastoral associate, now quarter time, he will continue to offer some adult catechesis, prepare couples for marriage, coordinate our parish social action efforts, and be available for pastoral counseling, but on a reduced level of availability. Deacon George has played a crucial role in the building up of our parish community over the past two decades, and continues to provide quality ministry to our parish. In my first two years as pastor I have often turned to George for advice and direction, and have considered myself fortunate to have him here as both parish deacon and pastoral associate. We are blessed to still be able to keep him on our pastoral team, even if now quarter time.

I again thank you for whatever level of sacrificial giving of your time, talent, and treasure you are able to offer our parish community. If the other two thirds of our “registered/active” parish households were as committed financially and otherwise as you who attend mass every Sunday are, we would be a parish rich in time, talent and treasure. Thank you for your support!

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

May 23, 2010

Dear Friends,

When we enter the front doors of the church, we see the banners celebrating Father Moreau’s beatification with his exhortation to “Make God known, loved and served.” These words remind us that we enter the church to be strengthened and renewed in our mission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. As we depart from these doors we see the same command to “Make God known, loved and served” facing us on the back of the church sign, reminding us that we are sent forth to be instruments of the Kingdom of God in our world.

You may remember that I reported a couple of months ago that the Pastoral Council slightly revised our parish mission statement. Most significantly, it added these words of Father Moreau to the end of the mission statement. This exhortation was originally directed at members of Father Moreau’s newly created Congregation of Holy Cross Sisters, Brothers and Priests, but applies just as validly to all Christians who have received in their baptism the mission to spread the Kingdom of God by making God known, loved and served.

Our parish mission statement is found on the front cover of each bulletin, as well as on the homepage of our parish website. It is our understanding and articulation of our purpose, our mission, as a parish. Our parish mission statement begins with the declaration, “The Holy Cross Parish Community is committed in faith and love of Jesus Christ to fulfill the profoundly human and spiritual needs of its parishioners and the larger community it serves.” The mission statement reminds us that we are a community. We are a parish family made up of all the individual households who together form Holy Cross Parish.

We witness to what we profess to the extent that people see us as a community of Christians who love one another and reach out to fulfill the needs of its members and the larger community, locally and globally. As a community of love and service, we are meant to inspire ourselves and others to do the work of Christ; we do this most effectively by our example. We do the work of Christ by striving to make God known, loved, and served in our world.

As we anticipate engaging in a process of pastoral planning next year in order to develop a three to five year parish pastoral plan, we will want to reflect on this articulation of our purpose and mission. How well do we fulfill our purpose as a parish community? How can we better fulfill our mission as Holy Cross Parish? What do we need to be doing as a parish to better fulfill our mission? Where is Jesus Christ leading us as a parish? How can we better “make God known, loved and served?”

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

Pastor's Weekly Column