Letter from Fr Murphy: Challenge

A Message from Fr Michael Murphy, Parish House, Kilcullen,
On the Occasion of the New Year of the Family Offering (Challenge-Envelope) Collection,
1st March 2009:

THANK YOU

I am very heartened by, and very appreciative of, the great support given to the life and work of the Church in the Parish of Kilcullen. My sincere thanks to every one of you for your goodwill and your help. The generosity – both in terms of financial support and of time given – of so many people is extraordinary. More and more people are stepping forward on a voluntary basis to take part in the various ministries of the Church. All need training in leadership, in an understanding of the Church and of Liturgy, in pastoral priorities and pastoral skills. They will require resources and ongoing formation and personal renewal both pastoral and spiritual. If we fail to make proper provision for meeting the gap left by declining numbers of priests, we would be settling for a winding down of parish life.

CHURCH COLLECTIONS

There are three different Church Collections. What are they and what are they used for?

Family Offering (Challenge-Envelope) Collection: This Collection contributed to on a house-to-house basis by envelope or standing order provides the funds for the operation of the Parish and ongoing maintenance of our two churches. You are entitled to expect your church to be well maintained, well heated, comfortable, bright and welcoming, properly insured. On 5th August 2009 it will be 140 years since the foundation stone of our Parish church was laid by Cardinal Cullen.

Collections for the Support of Priests: This income supports the priests of the Parish including sick and retired priests of the Diocese. It includes the First Collection taken up during Mass, Christmas, Easter and Harvest dues and other offerings made to priests on the occasion of Baptisms, Weddings or Funerals.

SHARE Collection: The Second Collection taken up during Mass is the SHARE-Diocesan Collection. It provides financial support to Parishes. It also helps to fund growing needs in Diocesan Administration and Diocesan Pastoral Services. Sometimes there are special collections instead of SHARE, such as the recent collection for ACCORD, the Diocesan Agency for Marriage and the Family.

HOW CAN I HELP?

You may be already doing so, but if not, you are asked to consider what you would regard as a reasonable offering for you towards the support of your Parish at this time, and you place that in your envelope each weekend. Please drop your envelope at Mass or at the Parish House or Office. You may, however, wish to make an annual donation or indeed use a direct debit mandate available from the Parish Office Tel. 480727. These will also facilitate the tax reclaim.

There are people who will be experiencing financial difficulties during 2009. While respecting this fact, I suggest that this is a time when the services of the Church are more relevant than ever. I urge you, therefore, in so far as you are able to please consider this request seriously. A regular donation to the parish means a lot and is what enables us to plan for the future.

PARISH TAX RECLAIM

Each contribution will be recorded and you will be issued with an individual personal receipt at the end of each year. Using this system will facilitate the reclaim of tax by the Parish at year end. If you are a ‘Self Employed’ tax payer and you donate €250 or more in the tax year you can use the receipt issued to you to enable you to reduce your own tax liability, and pass that benefit on to the Parish.

For the Parish to avail directly of the ‘Tax Reclaim’ the Parishioner must donate €250 or more in the tax year and pay tax solely through the PAYE scheme. It is important to emphasise that the tax relief to the Parish is available on the sum of all donations to the Parish i.e. Family Offering or Challenge-Envelope Collection, Offertory Collections, Dues etc.

WILLS/BEQUESTS

If you would like to assist financially some of the work undertaken by your Parish you might consider a bequest.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. If you require clarification of anything in this letter please contact me or any member of the Finance Committee and we will be delighted to help.

Wishing you every blessing.


Parish Website: www.kilcullenparish.blogspot.com (temporarily)
Parish Email: kilcullenparish@eircom.net

Text Message from St Paul, the Apostle of the Nations: ‘God loves a cheerful giver.’ (2Cor. 9:7).