St. John Neumann
Catholic Church

United States of America have given the world a true blessing. This nation was formed and continues to exist as a place of freedom. This is what we remember each 4th of July, that the people of this nation broke away from our past, in order to live lives of liberty. In this blessed liberty, our nation did not establish an "official" religion for the citizenry nor did it exclude religion from public life. The citizens of these United States of America are free, to worship God as we choose to worship God… or… to deny the very notion of God. We are free, to worship or not.

By God's grace, the Catholic Church has taken root in the rich soil of the "new world", and thrives as a living Body.  Our Patron, St. John Neumann (+1860) came to this land as an immigrant, and planted the seed that has blossomed into a vibrant Catholicism. But, unlike the Catholic Church in other countries, we here receive no financial support from government. We must make our own way.

***

In the midst of an extraordinary economic downturn, the parish family of St. John Neumann is building a new worship space and a whole lower level of meeting rooms. What an extraordinary sign of Christ's life among us! Those that pledged financial support to our Building a Legacy of Faith project are redeeming their pledges at an astounding 96%. Because of this group of faithful and committed parishioners, we will move in to the new church next spring. This is all good news; but there is room for some improvement.

The weekly offertory… the dollars offered the parish, week-by-week… pays our bills. The dollars collected in those baskets each weekend go to pay for the salaries of our small staff and for our utilities and for the materials used to provide our Sunday liturgies, our baptisms, our weddings, our funerals… our life as a parish family.

The offertory has taken a severe hit, times being what they are. Many of you have lost your jobs. Many of you are under-employed, making less than in years past. Many of you struggle to pay your bills. Times are tough, so the decline in offertory is an expected thing I guess.

But I must ask each of you reading this column, to commit yourself to the financial health of our parish. If everyone reading this column (and those that don't) would begin to give from their resources… even if the sum was not great… we would prosper. I ask again, as pastor and as a brother and as a member of this wonderful parish: help us in these tough times.

***

I will be away for a few days this week, spending some time in the Tennessee mountains with my two best friends from seminary. I'll see all next weekend.

AMDG

Msgr. David Talley