On Tuesday, April 20, I met with our parish Finance Council, and I wanted to bring you a brief update on our financial situation. This is important—you generously entrust financial resources to Sacred Heart in various ways, and our parish leadership has a moral obligation to use those resources responsibly, and to communicate with you how those resources are used.

Our financial year runs from July 1 to June 30, so at the end of March, we had completed three quarters of our current financial year. It's a good milestone to consider where we've been, where we are, and what the coming months have in store for us.

In short, we're doing well! Recently, we learned that our loan from the Payroll Protection Plan had been completely forgiven. We were expecting this, but it was encouraging to learn that we won't need to repay any of our $66,000 loan. This money was spent long ago, and helped us through a difficult period in 2020.

Furthermore, we received $1,386 in funds from the Cares Act, distributed to us from the Office of Economic Development of the City of Danville, to reimburse the purchase of cleaning materials to keep us safe. Kevin Hawke and Van Yeager work very hard to keep our parish facilities clean.

Our offertory has decreased by 17% compared to this time last year. We're grateful to those of you who have registered for online giving, which allows you to support your spiritual home even when you miss a weekend here. Our online giving platform is extremely easy to navigate, and gives you great flexibility in how you contribute it to our various parish collections. Check it out at www.sheartchurch.org.

Our total income has decreased by 27% compared to this time last year. This is due to many factors. For example, most families give a contribution after a wedding or quinceañera. Because the pandemic has precluded such events, those contributions have significantly diminished.

Last Easter, I shared with you an exciting project to install solar panels on our property, which would reduce our energy expenses and help us be more responsible stewards of the environment. Kevin is regularly in touch with the folks at Catholic Energies, who explain that the project remains mired in the delays of local bureaucracy. Hopefully our plans will progress soon, and we'll be able to see installation begin this summer.

At our Finance Council meeting, we approved our budget for the next financial year. We are hopeful that the impact of this pandemic will wind down in the coming months, and we anticipate restoring some of our in-person activities, which increases our expenses.

Your support of your parish is as important as ever! Our summer months are normally lean months for giving, but it's the time when we need to make those essential investments to support those ministries and initiatives which will be getting underway in the fall. Please prayerfully discern how you can participate in the financial stewardship of Sacred Heart, and give as your current circumstances allow.

On behalf of those served by the diverse ministries of our parish—THANK YOU!