Photo Credit: Leah Nash for the NY Times
Today the New York Times takes a look at the state of the nation's economy through the prism of Portland, Oregon. The article includes a look at Powell's Bookstore, seen in the picture above, and how their plans for expansion have been affected.
Lots of people have asked me if I have seen any fall-out from the economy in the parish: either in the form of decreased giving, or increased attendance at Mass.
I haven't noticed a specific increase in attendance other than to say Holy Redeemer has been experiencing a general growth in young couples and families as the neighborhood has been gentrifying over the past few years. I'm not sure what, if any, downturn there has been in the collection, but I do know that long term giving such as campaign pledges have been slower in coming in. We'll soon see about enrollment in the school for next year.
Like everywhere else, some people in the parish have been downsized from work or fear that they may yet be. There is definitely a hesitancy about how and when we will emerge from this particularly deep recession.
While we rightly feel concerned about our financial security, and our ability to provide for ourselves and our families, it is also important that we reflect on these words of the Holy Father, and seize the ever-present opportunity to ground our lives in God, relying entirely on that which truly endures:
"He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money builds the house of his life on sand. We are now seeing, in the collapse of major banks, that money vanishes, it is nothing. All these things that appear to be real are in fact secondary. Only God's words are a solid reality."
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