26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C September 28, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
“The Big Church.” When a small town has multiple churches, I often hear that phrase “the big church.” Especially in Acadiana, that tends to be the largest Catholic Church in the area. Usually, “the Big Church” is not only physically imposing, it’s got a long history, a lot of people, and a lot of stuff going on. In Abbeville, we are the “Big Church,” which makes sense. Look at this place! Big, beautiful, historic, lots of people. Thanks to your generosity, this Church does have a lot going on. Classes and bible studies and retreats and sacraments and service to the poor and a K through 12 school and even a good bit of fun.
At the same time, however, there is one thing a “Big Church” like ours often struggles with: false assumptions. Like any “big” institution, people tend to assume there’s plenty of money and plenty of help. All the time I run across people – even other priests – who assume we’re flush with cash and running smoothly, like we’ve always got plenty of elbow room. We don’t.
The fact is that we’ve been bleeding money for years. I published the annual report last year showing a loss of $60,000 for the prior fiscal year. If you haven’t already, you’ll receive some pamphlets we’ve put together which show another year of loss just shy of $40,000. Why the struggle? Inflation, Covid, new churches in town, major supporters going to their eternal reward, the loss of parishioners after our 1st Communion incident. Lots of reasons. Still, I believe we could be doing better. That’s why this weekend in the beginning of a campaign to increase regular giving in the parish. Unlike other fundraisers – the renovations, our Sound System campaign, the van fundraiser for the Christian service center – unlike those this isn’t about making a one time goal. It’s about cultivating the kind of consistent support we need to maintain a healthy annual budget.
Look, most priests don’t like talking about money from the pulpit, but I have to if we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. This whole operation – the Big Church – takes a lot to keep running. And it’s not like our problems are coming from mismanagement. I’ve worked to cut expenses, to become more efficient, and to be transparent about where the money goes. You can see the Sound System funds still being put to work. You’re about to see some pretty significant construction to fix one of our dying A/C units. We publish the financial statement each year. The Finance Committee meets quarterly to see what we’re doing and keep things honest. The diocese oversees and audits us regularly. The money is not being wasted, lost, or stolen. It’s being spent on what we’re supposed to spend it on: staff, ministry, maintenance. We have a big staff, yes, but all of them do valuable work and none of them are paid exorbitantly. Indeed, all of them are overdue for a cost-of-living increase. Remove any one employee and a lot of what we provide will either go away or get a lot less effective. Yet, if our income does not increase soon and stay there, I’ll have no choice but to lay someone off. My hope, however, is that that won’t be necessary.
Money matters for our souls too. Our readings today have some pretty strong words about using money poorly. The rich man in the gospel is punished not because he was rich, but because he was selfish. Amos the prophet in our first reading warns the people of God that their wealth has made them blind to the problems around them. It’s part of our fallen human nature that being too comfortable makes us less likely to pay attention to God and to others. Money is not evil, but the love of money is evil. Greed and selfishness are evil. Jesus repeatedly tells us to get rid of money, to use it to do good and then be rid of it.
This is part of the reason the Church so constantly tells us to care for the poor. It not only helps the poor, it helps us by reinforcing a healthy detachment from our wealth. It’s also part of the reason the Catechism lists “supporting the Church” as one of the 5 precepts of the Church. The 5 precepts of the Church are the 5 things the catechism gives as a basic checklist of being a practicing Catholic. 1 – Weekly Mass, 2 – yearly confession, 3 – communion during Easter, 4 – fasting and abstinence, and 5 – supporting the church according to your ability. These make us better men and women, better Catholics. They aren’t everything, but they are practical signs that our discipleship is genuine.
Look, my goal in life as a pastor is not to make as much money as possible. My goal in life is to make you as holy as possible and to make myself holy in the process. The fact is that you giving money to the Church and to the poor is good for you! Seriously, when I began to tithe to my parish, I grew closer to Jesus. I still tithe even as a priest. It might seem silly that the Church gives me a paycheck and that I then turn around and give part of that paycheck right back to the Church, but it’s what I do. It might be simpler to just pay me less and not tithe, but then I lose the chance to benefit from the act of giving.
What I want from you, what Jesus wants from you is not as simple as a specific number; it is to practice love, generosity, and trust. Your soul and your relationship with Jesus will benefit from you giving to the Church and to the poor in a way that is sacrificial. It should cost us.
Look, I don’t want anyone going into debt to pay the Church’s bills. If you truly can only manage a couple of dollars a week, okay! You are welcome to attend Mass and receive the sacraments even if you give nothing. Still, based on the number of people active in this parish, we ought to be better off than we are. It might be more fun for people to only pay for specific things, but it is in fact a holier, humbler, and more loving thing to support the parish as a whole, no strings attached. For our part, we will be honest and transparent so that you can trust us.
The hope here is to help all parishioners make a more consistent habit of supporting the Church at the level they can afford. Perhaps you haven’t updated your giving plan in a long time and you could give more. Perhaps you never got in the habit of planning your gift. Perhaps you’re one of the 30% of parishioners who only put in the basket whatever loose cash they happen to have with them. Cash is fine, but I don’t carry much myself so I wonder how well-thought out that is.
So, here’s the invitation. Next weekend is our commitment weekend when we’ll here from parishioners and ask you to commit to a giving plan. In the next week, prayerfully consider your finances. In faith, try to discern what percentage of your income you can give to the Church every month. Make it doable, but at least a little bit of a sacrifice – like maybe you cut back a streaming service, eat out a little less, or reduce your shopping budget. For the sake of the parish and for your own spiritual benefit, please make supporting this parish a priority rather than an afterthought. Cash is good, of course, but bear in mind that using envelopes helps you plan your giving and helps us plan our budget. Online giving is great because it can be recurring and less likely to be forgotten even if you happen to be traveling.
Ultimately, this isn’t about looking good on paper. It’s about building God’s kingdom in Abbeville, making our big church even bigger – not physically, but spiritually by providing more and more ways to draw people to God. Thank you again for what your generosity has done already and may God bless us abundantly with the resources we need to build his kingdom in Abbeville and beyond.