25th and 50th Wedding Anniversaries
This week I had the great pleasure of celebrating my aunt and uncle’s 25th wedding anniversary down in Kirkland. Did you know that the Church has a special liturgy, including customized Mass prayers, for the 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries? I had never done the full Mass plus prayers before, and they were amazing!
By the way, this liturgy is what some people used to refer to as a “renewal of vows”, but my canon law professors always emphasized that they really hate that phrase and wished people would stop using it. The marriage vows are for life, and we do not want to suggest that they need renewed. But it is a time for the couple to give thanks to God publicly for their marriage, and for the Church to pray for them explicitly again.
Please, if you or someone you love is preparing for a 25th or 50th wedding anniversary, please get in touch with me. I would love to use these prayers more!
Giving Update
As of February 19th, our fiscal-year-to-date giving is at $701,381, which compares to $697,718 at this time last year. On the one hand, this is encouraging because we are on-track to meet this year’s budget. On the other hand, inflation is a harsh reality, and even in the best years we have to increase year-over-year just to stay even. With inflation around 8% this fiscal year, anything short of an 8% increase in giving means we are falling behind.
Do I need our parishioners to do anything about this?
No. I deeply believe that living out our mission will cause the money to take care of itself. If you are already giving at capacity, then all I need are your prayers.
That said, if you are not already giving based on percentage of income (rather than set amount), would you be willing to switch to that system? When people give based on percentage, then inflationary increases tend to take care of themselves, because as salaries rise, so does giving.
Otherwise, if we keep loving God, loving neighbor, and preaching the Gospel, then God will find a way. He always does.
Fr. Moore 