St. John of God Parish| St. John of God Parish |
| 1011 CHURCH AVENUE - MCKEES ROCKS, PA 15136 412-771-5646 |
|
Fr. Lou Vallone |
OCTOBER 14, 2007
We are in the process of taking our "October Count", the figure we turn into the diocese
with our average weekly attendance. Much is determined about the health of a parish based
on these figures: how many Masses may be celebrated, how many priests may be assigned, etc.
On a percentage basis, we are in line with everyone else: on any given Sunday, only about
33% of our registered parishioners are at Mass. That means that 2 out of 3 people who say
they are practicing the faith are not practicing very well on any given Sunday.
Now, I am sure that each one has his or her reasons for being absent from Church that are
valid authentic to him or her. For those who didn't get the baseball analogy from a
previous Pastor's Corner, here's a football one. The percentage of ticket holders who
attend Steeler games is well above 98% (even while we are losing.) I found this little
piece on the internet. I will leave it to you what conclusions to draw from it.
1.Every time I went they asked me for money. 2. The people with whom I sat weren't friendly. 3. The seats were too hard. And the weather was lousy. 4. I went to a lot games, but the coach never called on me. 5. The referees made a decision with which I disagreed. 6. I suspected that I was sitting with hypocrites - they came to see their friends and eat hot dogs rather than to see the game. 7. Some games went into overtime and was late getting home. 8. The organ played some numbers that I had never heard before. 9. Some games are scheduled when I want to do other things. 10. I was taken to too many games by my parents when I was young and I don't need to go any more. 11. I recently read a book on football and I feel I know as much as the coaches anyway. 12. I don't want to take my children to any games, because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best when they are old enough to decide. |