AM+DG

Dear faithful,

      Having just begun the holy season of Lent, when it is traditional to add almsgiving to works of prayer and fasting, I would like to speak to you a bit about the financial situation of St. Isidore’s.

       As you know, a few weeks ago, I was able to present to the parish the master plan for how we would like to see our campus develop in the upcoming years. That plan is the fruit of careful reflection both on our needs and how to complement our beautiful church as we grow. I am very pleased at the enthusiastic response that I received upon presenting the plan and, like you, I am excited at the possibility of developing our community.

        At the same time, projects like these are quite daunting. We need funds far beyond what our own parish is able to provide. That is why I have assembled a fundraising team that is brainstorming about ways in which we can present our project to the outside world and, hopefully, find generous benefactors who are interested in the traditional Catholic movement and traditional Catholic education.

        In the years that it takes to raise these funds, we will still rely on our own parishioners for the everyday running of St. Isidore’s. We have always run on a tight budget and it has been amazing to me, over the years, to see how God provides for our many needs, often in unexpected ways. But, in the end, the main thing that keeps us going is the contributions to the collection plate.

        There is a special exchange that takes place when an institution runs almost entirely on donations, and this is particularly true of a supernatural institution such as the Catholic Church and all of her parishes and chapels. The primary donation that the Church relies upon is in the lives of her priests and religious. She asks certain souls to leave their families behind and also leave behind having a family, in order to do the work of the Church. That work is not a work that draws a salary—at least for those who belong to a religious order or a priestly family like the SSPX—in order to help distinguish it from a job and make it more clearly a life, a vocation.

        In turn, the priest receives a much larger family than he could have ever brought forth in the world, and he also receives many more monetary contributions! These contributions go to the building up of his spiritual family. That is, they are used to maintain our buildings, keep our school running, and adorn the liturgy, so that the work of the sanctification of souls can go on—and Heaven may be filled.

        In other words, the “donation” that the priest gives of his life is returned to him in very great abundance.

        The same is true for the donations that the faithful make to their own parish. We are not like the Israelites of the Old Testament—or even the Mormons today—who were required to contribute a certain amount in order to fulfill the Mosaic Law. It is the fifth precept of the Church that the faithful must contribute to the support of the Church, but the Church does not command that a certain amount be given. She leaves it to the generosity of each person. Thus, the faithful are able to practice the virtues of both justice and charity when they give: justice by “bearing their fair share of the financial burden” of their parish (as My Catholic Faith remarks), and charity by contributing at times what is not strictly required of them.

        An example of this would be our current situation at St. Isidore’s, where we have our normal needs and we also would like to accomplish a master plan. The faithful would accomplish their duty in justice by making their normal contribution; then, if they happen to have something extra because they won the lottery, received a bonus, a stimulus check, or something of that sort, they might use that extra to contribute, out of charity, to the master plan.

        The faithful reap more from their alms than they put in because they are not contributing to a merely natural enterprise. They are sustaining the work of God. They contribute materially to the salvation of their own soul and the souls of others. Their material contribution has an effect that is far above the material level.

        As always, we are grateful for whatever the faithful are able to provide, in their generosity. “God loves the cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7) and his priests do as well!

        As we begin the month of St. Joseph next Wednesday, let us pray to him that he look after our material needs in the same way that he looked after the needs of the Holy Family.

God bless you,

Fr. Robinson