Parish Giving Series
On July 5, Fr. Felix closed our six-week Parish Giving Series with an appeal at the Sunday Masses. What follows is the heart of it.
Response
The Widow's Mite, James Tissot
Called to Share in Christ's Mission
God shows His love through His providential care for us. In the miracle of the loaves and fishes, Jesus provides for us and calls us to share in the continuation of His Mission through His Mystical Body, the Church.
This is a mission we all committed ourselves to. When we were baptized, we were endowed with a share in the threefold offices of Jesus Christ, Priest, Prophet, and King:
King: the royal dignity of service to God and neighbor.
Prophet: to proclaim and defend the revealed Truth of our religion in Faith and morals.
Priest: the office of sanctifying through sacrificial giving, contributing to the Treasury of the Church, both spiritually and materially.
In the Old Testament, God mandated an annual tithe of 10% of all the proceeds of the people's produce and earnings. In the New Testament, the Christians of the Early Church held all things in common, and the Apostles took up collections for the support of the Church's mission and of those less fortunate (Acts of the Apostles).
The Church understands that not everyone can give 10%. Some can give more than others. But everyone can do something.
What Your Gift Carries Out
There are things we, as a parish, need to be doing but cannot adequately fulfill due to lack of funding. One example is adequate staffing to assist in carrying out:
Service: volunteerism
Teaching: catechesis and Faith formation on all levels, sacrament preparation, OCIA, and Evangelization
Sanctifying: our sacred worship, personal prayer, and the administration of the Sacraments
In the near-to-long-term view, we need to retire the debt on the parking garage, and we need adequate facilities: a parish hall to gather in, and classrooms for catechesis, sacrament preparation, OCIA, and Evangelization.
Inflation: Keeping Pace
Every time the inflation rate goes up, the dollar buys less than it did before. It diminishes in its purchasing power.
1 year:
If in 2024 you purchased an item for $1,000.00 in 2025 that same item would cost: $1,026.31 Cumulative inflation: 2.6%
5 years:
If in 2020 you purchased an item for $1,000.00 in 2025 that same item would cost: $1,243.93 Cumulative inflation: 24.4%
10 years:
If in 2015 you purchased an item for $1,000.00 in 2025 that same item would cost: $1,358.31 Cumulative inflation: 35.8%
What Is Your Gift Worth Today?
Enter your weekly offering and when you last set it.
Based on cumulative U.S. inflation of 2.6% since 2024, 24.4% since 2020, and 35.8% since 2015.
Week 1 — GratitudeTrinity Sunday, May 31. The mutual self-gift of the Trinity as the source of everything we have. Before any conversation about giving, the recognition that nothing we have was ours to begin with.
Week 2 — SacrificeCorpus Christi, June 7. Jesus's gift of self through his sacrifice. The Eucharist is both gift and offering. What we have received, we return.
Week 3 — StewardshipJune 14. Honoring the gift, not squandering it. Preserving what has been entrusted to us and advancing the church's mission in the world as we find it today.
Week 4 — CommunionJune 21. Shared responsibility. The parish is sustained not by a few but by the participation of all who belong to it.
Week 5 — LegacyJune 28. This has all been handed down to us. Now it's our turn. What we inherited, we hold in trust.
Week 6 — ResponseJuly 5. Practical paths to give. Envelope, online, recurring, planned giving. Pick one you can sustain.
Parish Giving Series
May 31 – July 5, 2026 · Six Sundays
At Annunciation, we root our understanding of stewardship in the Precepts of the Church — the duties every Catholic is called to fulfill as a member of the Body of Christ. These precepts are not suggestions. They are the foundation of a practicing Catholic life, and they are what we commit to when we present our children for Baptism, when we are confirmed, and when we call this parish our spiritual home.
Fr. Felix has opened a six-week Parish Giving Series to walk through what these precepts ask of us — not just in theory, but in practice, here, at Annunciation. Each week's reflection is posted below and explored in the Sunday bulletin.
The Precepts of the Church
1. Keep holy the day of the Lord's Resurrection. Worship God by participating in Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. Avoid those activities that would hinder renewal of soul and body — needless work and business activities, unnecessary shopping, and so forth.
2. Lead a sacramental life. Receive Holy Communion frequently and the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly — ideally once a month as a healthy practice. At minimum, receive Reconciliation at least once a year (obligatory annually only if serious sin is involved) and receive Holy Communion at least once a year, between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday.
3. Study and advance the Catholic faith. Prepare for Confirmation, be confirmed, and then continue to study Catholic teaching and advance the cause of Christ.
4. Observe the marriage laws of the Church. Give religious training, by example and word, to one's children. Use parish schools and religious education programs.
5. Strengthen and support the Church. Contribute regularly and proportionally to the financial support of one's own parish community and parish priests. Give of one's time and talent in service to the parish. Support the worldwide Church and the Holy Father.
6. Do penance. Abstain from meat and fast from food on the days appointed by the Church.
7. Join in the missionary spirit and apostolate of the Church. Transmit the Faith to all people everywhere.