Parishioners most dear:
St. Augustine remarks a beautiful metaphor that through faith people are like the wood and stones collected in the forests and on the mountains for building; then through Baptism, catechesis, and preaching they are rough-shaped, squared, and polished; but they become houses of the Lord only when they are put together with love. When believers are interconnected in accordance with a specific order, mutually close and cohesive, when they are joined by love, they truly become a dwelling of God that is in no danger of collapsing. Once again, I must put ink to paper in order to communicate with each of you, so that you know from me what your pastor is thinking; these are thoughts which have taken shape during the last few months, with the help and advice of the people that collaborate with me in the governance and organization of our parish, specifically, Carol Glass, Business manager, John Ohlrich, Facilities manager, David Landeros, chairperson of Finance Council and Miguel Bedolla, Pastoral Associate. It must be said – and I am glad to affirm it publicly – that I trust them absolutely, because I known the righteousness of their intentions: together with me they seek and work only for the benefit of the parish. Not long ago I informed you – in a letter similar to this – that the parish, which will soon celebrate its Golden Anniversary, needs to undertake a number of badly needed repairs which, when completed, will allow for the appropriate functioning of all of the installations for many years more. I have no objection to state that, as the father of this parochial family, one of my obligations is to ensure that the installations of God’s house are in a good state of repair so that in them we may be able to live and celebrate our Catholic faith. I have been taking small and prudent steps to deal carefully with this situation. The first step was, of course, to go to the head of our local Church: Most Reverend Gustavo Garcia-Siller, Archbishop of San Antonio, and request his permission. From him I obtained the initial approval to undertake the repairs that the Parish needs. The next step was to contact the Business Office of the Archdiocese to arrange all that has to do with the funds needed to pay for the repairs, and to ask if I would be permitted to use as a loan monies from the Building Fund of the Parish. It made no sense to go to a bank to request a loan when we could obtain it from one of our own parish accounts.
I also want to inform you that at the beginning of this year and after thinking and meditating before God, I decided to postpone indefinitely the construction of the new chapel; but I have not cancelled it. Once again, I insist that I am conscious of the fact that this chapel is something that many of you have dreamed about for a long time, a project for which many of you have made generous donations. In this regard I must state that personally I do not distinguish between those who have donated $10,000 dollars and those who have donated only one; all donations are good and worthy. God does not see the quantity donated but the love with which the donation is made, and the righteousness of your intention. The suspension is based on the following reasons:
- The first and most important is that our Parish family, as any other family, business, or school, has a set of priorities. My conscience tells me clearly that our priority at this moment (February 2011) is to repair what is in a state of disrepair, before beginning the construction of something entirely new. As I see it, the head of a family should not take the family on a vacation if the children do not have all of the means necessary to carry on their daily lives.
-The second is the fragility and volatility of our nation’s economy at this time, and the weakness of the construction. Since 2008, nearly 200 religious facilities have been foreclosed on by banks, up from eight during the previous two years and virtually none in the decade before that, according you real-estate services firm CoStar Group, Inc. Analysts and bankers say hundred of additional churches face financial struggles so severe they could face foreclosure or bankruptcy in the near future. -The third is that we are not a wealthy parish and our parishioners do not have money in excess. Added to this is the fact that the savings of the parish are not abundant, and I am not willing and ready to hoist a debt upon the shoulders of my parishioners, a debt that could easily create a difficult financial situation for the parish and even sink it.
On the other hand, the situation is as follows:
1. The available balance of the Construction Fund is $450,363.07 as of today, an amount that is safely deposited in a Frost Bank account.
2. To date the amount of $105,007.44 has been spent in the development of the project of the new chapel.
3. The repairs that the parish installations need are:
a. Air conditioner’s motor ($15, 175).
b. Parking lot ($31,700).
c. Roof of the Parish Center ($64,811).
The cost of these repairs is: $111, 686.
With the help of the Finance Council and the people of the Archdiocese I am working on a plan to pay the loan back to the Construction Fund from our operating funds over time.
Finally, I regret the fact that some of you were partially informed of this situation through an unauthorized emailing that began to circulate among parishioners a few days ago. The information in this emailing was not complete, and I or the Finance Council of the Parish did not approve it. This situation is so irregular that I have decided to declare as non-existent the former Committee for the Construction of the New Chapel, and to declare, as already stated, the project itself suspended, but not cancelled. I am very grateful with the members at this point. There will be a new Committee when the Pastor and his Finance Council, along with the Pastoral Council and the appropriate archdiocesan authorities, conclude it is prudent to have it. The government of a parish, as you can see, is not a simple matter, thus I request that you pray for me.
And even with all this, I must state that neither the repairs that we will undertake, nor the installations themselves, are the most important. What is fundamental, and what I have attempted to reveal as the core and purpose of our parish, is love for the Eucharist. It be my wish that it is the center of everything that we do. If the day I am asked by my Archbishop to move on we all have began to turn our souls toward the Eucharist, all of our efforts will have been worthy.
My brothers and sisters, the mission of our parish is and should be to nurture the spiritual growth of its parishioners, by inspiring them to become faith-filled Catholics –apostles– who spread the good news of Christ, creating a bilingual and bicultural community. To fulfill this mission as a Pastor of this community I have two goals: 1. To nurture the spiritual growth of the Parish through a reverent celebration of the Eucharist, the liturgy that has been at the center of the life Catholic communities since the beginning of the Church, and 2. To fulfill the sacramental, spiritual, and physical needs of the people of God through our various ministries.
I embrace you and bless you with love,
Fr. Agustín, Pastor.
