Dear Friends in Christ,
This Sunday was originally scheduled to be our annual parish bazaar. Sadly, the bazaar had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is a great disappointment to the nearly 1500 volunteers who dedicate themselves each year to make the bazaar such a wonderful success. It is also disappointment for the thousands who come and enjoy themselves in this fun event in which we celebrate and strengthen our community. Due to the bazaar’s cancellation, we will have to find ways to compensate for the $300,000 loss that the bazaar normally raises for our SJV Charities. The bazaar enables our parish to award grants each year to provide shelter for the homeless, tuition assistance for Catholic school students, food for needy families, healthcare for the indigent, protection of the unborn, rehabilitation for released prisoners and support for evangelization and missionary efforts in the Houston area. This is in addition to the tremendous work performed through our Social Services Ministries which are funded through our regular tithing. There are many in the community who rely on us.
Additionally, we are lagging in our commitment to the Diocesan Services Fund (DSF). Our goal is $430,000 and we are nearly $100,000 short. Normally, we have already reached our goal. Shortfalls to DSF must be paid by the parish. Lastly, while we are blessed and are doing better than many churches, our collections have been impacted. We are not where we would be in a normal year. Last month, our income was down by $135,000 from the same period last year. We continue to operate on our emergency budget that has reduced spending across the board, furloughed part time employees and eliminated all non-essential expenditures.
We are blessed in that only a relatively few of our 5000 families have been impacted by the virus. Of course, it is sad for all who had family members infected by the virus. We are grateful for those who have recovered and continue to pray for all of those who are sick. There are many more people who have been impacted financially by the pandemic. Many have lost jobs or their employment is in jeopardy. At this time, most of our parishioners have not been able to return to Sunday Mass due to being in an “at risk” category or out of concern for their health. All of these situations have impacted not only these parishioner families but also our parish as a whole. We are still not allowed to open totally back up. Our parish offices are open, but we are restricted to only 50% capacity for Mass (currently we are only at 25% on Sundays), and we can only gather for sacramental preparation and youth formation. All other parish activities are prohibited. This has been a great sacrifice for our parish and it has also impacted our finances.
Ways you can help:
- Make a contribution to help cover our lost Bazaar income: Donations may be made through our online payment portal, WeShare, or by mailing or dropping a check at the parish office during the week.
- DSF: A check can be mailed or dropped off at the parish office. In the memo section of the check, please indicate this is a DSF donation.
- Parish Offertory: Donations can be made through our online payment portal or other methods from our donate page.
Thank you in advance for your support. Our parish community is continually blessed with wonderful parishioners.
In pace Christi,
Fr. Troy