E-NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 1. 2023

From the Desk of Fr. Tim…

2022 Parish Financial Report

On behalf of the Property and Finance Council, I am pleased to provide a financial update for the 2022 fiscal year. Please find the statement on which these remarks are based on the opposite page. Members of the Property and Finance Committee will also present this report at each mass this weekend, February 4/5.  

During 2022 we slowly emerged from COVID, which resulted in increased attendance by our parishioners to Sunday masses and a resumption of many parish activities. Our ministry fair this past fall resulted in 230 ministry positions being signed up for. During the past year we also received excellent support from parishioners for the refugee sponsorship of 6 members of the Gill family from Pakistan. This truly demonstrates your interest and dedication to a vibrant faith community at our church.

On the financial level we finished the year with a 9% increase in offertory revenue versus last year. Although we are pleased with this trend, we are down approximately 11% from pre-COVID 2019 offertory revenue.  Fortunately increased digital donations which include Pre- Authorised Giving, use of the debit/credit card machine at the parish office, and online donations though the Donate Now button on the parish or archdiocese websites helped mitigate what otherwise would have been a much larger decrease in offertory revenue. These digital donation options provide an easy way to continue your support of our parish community. In fact, 53% of parish offertory revenue now comes to us in this fashion. You are encouraged to explore using these digital methods to support the parish. You can find a link to the Pre-Authorized Giving form on the parish website or pick up a copy at the doors of the church today.  The “Donate Now” feature can be found on the top right corner of both the St. Ignatius Loyola Parish and Archdiocese of Toronto websites and enables you to select single or recurring donations directly from your credit card with registration occurring on-line.

On the expense side please note that the payroll expenses appear to have increased by 20%. What happened is that in 2021 no invoice was received for Clergy Health Care Benefits and Shepherd’s Trust Assessment. We received and paid for two years of these expenses in 2022. The increase in Liturgical expenses is due to the return of musicians at each mass for the entire year.

While we had small capital projects at both the church and rectory this past year of $17,000 as reflected in the financial statement, our major capital project was to update both washrooms by the parish hall. No major work had been done on these washrooms since the church was constructed 35 years ago. The new washrooms are now accessible, have more efficient fixtures, which are touchless, have handicapped access sinks and are cleaner and brighter. This project cost approximately $140,000 and was paid for by the funds we have on deposit with the Archdiocese. This balance with the Archdiocese is now more than $1.5 million and it earns interest for our parish and is the fund that we draw on for future capital expenditures. While this amount may seem large, over the past 10 years we have spent about $2.5 million on various projects to maintain this wonderful church building, including almost $1 million to significantly increase the amount of parking.

Our future major projects will be to address some renovations in the hall and to replace the carpets in the church, which have not been replaced since the church was built. None of this would have been possible without your incredible generosity, for which we are truly grateful.

Once again, on behalf of Fr. Alex, Deacon John, Deacon Rob, and the parish staff, I would like to thank each of you for your extraordinary support during these challenging times.   Please note that tax receipts for your 2022 donations were mailed directly from the Archdiocese last week. We truly appreciate your loyalty, ongoing support, and generosity, and we hope that 2023 will allow us to welcome you back to our parish church in greater numbers.

World Day of the Sick/Mass for the Anointing of the Sick

When Pope John Paul II established the World Day of the Sick on the memorial of our Lady of Lourdes he was “reminding us to see in our sick brother or sister the face of Christ”, and of our own need for healing and the Church’s care for those who are ill and those who care for them.     I take this opportunity to thank the many people involved in our Pastoral Care Team who minister to the sick by offering holy communion to them at home, at Sunrise and Parklands on the Glen, or at Credit Valley Hospital.

On Saturday February 11 at 9 a.m. we will celebrate a special Mass for the Anointing of the Sick.   Please extend an invitation to those Roman Catholics in your families whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age, as we would be happy to anoint them during the mass.

Finally, a reminder that if you have a loved one who is homebound, or seriously ill please call the parish office to arrange for one of our priests to come for an initial visit and possible Anointing of the Sick.  We would then be happy to offer them the option of receiving communion at home through our Pastoral Care Team.

Coffee Sunday & St. Jude’s Cupboard

Please mark your calendars for the weekend of February 11/12 for our next Coffee Sunday…with coffee tea and treats in the parish hall after each mass that weekend.   We will also feature St. Jude’s Cupboard with their religious articles for sale.