From the Desk of Fr. Schaller - September 24, 2023

How would you like to get a full day’s wage after only doing one hour of work? That is what happens in the parable Jesus tells in today’s Gospel. Although one should be cautious not to use this parable as the basis for justice in the workplace, it does express the difference between what we understand as human justice and what God gives us out of His Divine Generosity. As the prophet Isaiah tells us in the first reading, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways. God is always more generous to us than we deserve.

Recognizing God’s generosity should spur us on to be generous as well. In three weeks we will kick off the Diocesan Annual Appeal. The DAA was begun 26 years ago in order to provide a more consistent and effective means of funding the many local, diocesan, national, and universal Church efforts. It replaced 12 annual collections and reduced the annual amount of money that the parishes pay to support the Diocesan offices. Each parish’s target is based upon the annual regular income, number of households, and the number of children enrolled in Catholic Schools (more students=lower target). From its beginning in 1997, the DAA was set up so that once a parish met its target, any amount over would be sent back to the parish as a ‘rebate’. This rebate is NOT considered in the formula for determining the following year’s target. Nor is the rebate used in the formula for determining the amount of support to the Catholic Schools (for SVdP & SSPP, Assumption Catholic Schools. We contribute generously to the support of Assumption Catholic Schools and will continue to do so.) The DAA is, therefore, an effective way to meet our obligations to support the various works of the Church AND (when we exceed our target) to provide additional money for our own parishes’ needs.

May God bless you!
Fr. Schaller 

​