Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This letter is primarily written for our Catholic School families, but might be of interest to the wider parish community.
As our Catholic school families are aware, each year the Archdiocese requires that parents submit a parish verification form to the pastor for each student they are seeking to enroll. The purpose of this form is to help the school determine whether or not the family is eligible for a discounted tuition rate, usually somewhere around $2,000 off the admittedly high base rate.
Our Catholic schools run at a deficit and are heavily subsidized by the Archdiocese, meaning the good and generous people in our pews and every other parish are greatly supporting Catholic education through the monies they drop in the basket on Sunday (each parish pays a small percent of their offertory as a Catholic Schools Assessment to the Archdiocese). For every one of these families that I vouch to be “active,” the schools lose out on that roughly $2,000 of planned income.
The discount is meant to be a token of appreciation for the families who are active participants in the life of their home parish, taking as a given that they are faithfully present at Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation, are financially supporting the parish and the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal in a traceable way, are active in parish life, and are serving in parish ministries. The form itself lists these things out as requirements.
And I need to highlight this is about so much more than simply “money”…it has a direct impact on the Catholic identity of an institution. We should be supporting families that want an authentically Catholic education, not just a solid private education. And it’s also a matter of justice. There are many truly active families who would love to send their children to our Catholic schools but cannot because of the cost. Yet they, by their generosity, are subsidizing families of greater means that have not truly prioritized the faith in their lives. This is a scandal.
I ask you families who are submitting these verification letters to fill them out honestly and seriously. Since I do not yet know every family in the parish and what aspects of parish life you may be involved in, all I have to make my decision as to whether or not you are an “Active Catholic Family” is what you write in the lines provided and our internal database tracking your financial contributions. If you write that your parish involvement is eating at the Fish Fry and coming to Sunday Coffee and Donuts, and there has been little to no traceable history of your giving, I cannot in good conscience state you meet the threshold given by the Archdiocese.
May the Holy Spirit stir in all of us a desire to be intentional and serious disciples, faithful and generous stewards of what has been entrusted to us.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
All you holy saints of God, pray for us!
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Michael Silloway
Pastor