Happy Twenty-Third Sunday!

Last week, we began delving into the nuts and bolts of our diocesan capital campaign. It will seek to raise $70 million across our 72 parishes in the form of Catholic education endowments that contribute financial resources in perpetuity to three major areas of need. The first is Catholic educator training, retention, and compensation, which we looked at last week through the details of the On Mission endowment. Today we’ll look at the other two goals.

AFFORDABLE. The next priority of the campaign will receive 30% of its funds, or $21 million. Its beneficiaries are the families of our Catholic school students. Moms, dads, grandparents, relatives, and guardians make real sacrifices to give their children a faith-based education, and the Diocese of Lansing wants to help keep it within reach by removing financial barriers and expanding access to tuition assistance for current and new families.

The diocesan financial aid endowment, created under the Witness to Hope campaign, currently distributes about $650,000 in tuition grants each year to students across our Catholic schools. Families who apply may receive an annual tuition subsidy, capped at $750 per family for grades K-8, and $1,500 per family for grades 9-12. Unfortunately, the need for this assistance far outpaces the endowment’s output. Money raised from this campaign will increase its distribution rate to about $1.5 million per year. Grant caps per family will increase from $750 to as much as $1,500 for K-8 students, and from $1,500 to as much as $3,000 for high school students. This fund will provide about $400,000 in tuition subsidies for our St. Robert families over the next decade.

In addition, the diocese is establishing a ‘new family’ fund that can offer additional one-time grants of up to $1,000 for elementary students and up to $2,000 for high school students for families who are new to our Catholic schools.

ACCESSIBLE. The final priority of the campaign will receive 15% of its funds, or $10.5 million. Its beneficiaries are the families of our students with special needs, and our four regional Catholic high schools. Due to the lack of access to public special education funds and the lack of economies of scale, most Catholic schools are unable to train or employ the educators necessary to help our kids with special educational needs. Funds for this portion of the diocesan campaign will begin distributing over $100,000 in annual grants to provide teacher training and resources for our Catholic schools to better serve these children. In addition, our four Catholic high schools will each receive $2 million for major projects and facilities upgrades.

In all, $56 million of the Stewardship for Saints and Scholars campaign will provide direct, stable, long-term material resource support so that our Catholic schools remain strong into the future. The final 20%, $14 million, is slated to remain within our parishes for local initiatives. We’ll see what that looks like for us in next week’s bulletin.

Fr. Brian

Entry One: Intro

I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to God, our Almighty Father, for everything He has done in my life—for calling me to be His priest, to serve His Church as a visible sign of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, here on earth and particularly here in Flushing, MI. This calling, which I am unworthy to have received, can only be lived out if I continually allow the Lord to work through me. Only when my heart remains open to God’s love and the workings of the Holy Spirit will God’s work be accomplished. Essentially, I need to get out of the way and allow God to love His people through me. This is something I never thought was possible, and yet here I am—praise God.

I also want to thank all of you at St. Robert and Good Shepherd. Thank you for graciously welcoming me to your parish community. It is not easy moving to a new place and meeting new people, especially when you do not know anyone. It is also not easy welcoming someone you do not know into your parish, but I have certainly felt welcomed, and that is such a great gift for which I am grateful to all of you. I can certainly tell that the Holy Spirit is working and guiding us here at St. Robert and Good Shepherd. He has incredible plans for all of us, and I am excited to see what He does next.

For my bulletin entries, which will occur once a month, I want to provide you all with a glimpse into my own life. During prayer, I had a thought that it might be interesting to reveal what goes through the heart of a newly ordained priest as he transitions from seminary to living his life as a priest—to help you understand all the joys and sorrows, the successes and failures, the moments that lead to elation, and the moments that lead to heartache that a new priest experiences during his first year of priesthood.

My life is very different from what it used to be. I used to attend daily classes, hang out with my closest friends, study with them, and pray with them every single day. Now, I am with the Lord in Flushing, assisting Fr. Brian, and serving all of you. My community and surroundings have certainly changed, and yet there is consistency in the Lord, in whom I place my trust. No matter where I go, I place my trust in Him who loves me and has saved me.

My goal with these entries is to ultimately show you that a priest, even though he may have a different vocation, is not all that different from you. I am still a man, I am still a disciple of Jesus, and I am still a person in need of community, friendships, hobbies, and support. I too must always surround myself with other disciples who seek to give their lives to God.

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” I pray my time here will contribute to our Lord’s wishes—that all our hearts may burn with the fire of divine love. Happy 20th Sunday in OT and have a blessed week.