Message from the Pastor Msgr. Schwanger
My Dear Family of Our Lady of Lourdes,
What wonderful days of celebration these have been!
With
this report and Fr. Daubanes, the rector of the Sanctuary of
Lourdes, coming by for a visit, I would say that the Feast of
Our Lady of Lourdes has come to an end for this year. It was
wonderful to have had Fr. Daubanes with us once again this
year, he was very moved by the warm welcome and by the
chance to learn even more about the Hospitalite de Miami
and Our Lady of Lourdes in Miami.
The Parish Festival was a great success in many ways. One of our best! The gross revenue was $295,966. I am writing from Lourdes, so I do not have all the figures with me but surely that ranks amongst the highest. One of the highlights is that by far most of the food was donated by the ministries themselves. That, together with their service in the booths, makes an enormous difference. Again, this year we continued to upgrade our equipment and prepare for future festivals. As we look to the future it would be a major help to expand the set-up and break-down teams. They are unseen in their work, but the festival cannot happen without them, and it cost us more than $28,000 for hired help to support them this year. Even with that, the net revenue for the festival was $131,081.
As you know, festival revenue supports projects that are beyond normal operating expenses. This year we will soon dedicate our new outdoor Stations of the Cross. They will be able to be visited at any time of day or night and will be accessible to those in wheelchairs. We have also just received a report for the Archdiocese of Miami on our roofing and we will have to install new roofing for Bishop Isern Hall and for the Parish Office.
Thank you and congratulations, again, to the whole parish family. It takes us all to make these days so special, to make our life together special. And special it is.
Msgr. Schwanger
Pastor