Bulletin of October 12, 2025 Word from the Pastor

My Dear Family of Our Lady of Lourdes,

I want to thank the members of our Finance Council for all their hard work; not only in preparing our financial report for the parish but for all the work they do throughout the year! Marilisa Chin, the current President of the Finance Council, and her team of Lourdes Bouzas, Valli Kellman, Andrew Lyons, Alejandro Otero, Patricia Schutt-Aine, and Jose Viana are an industrious bunch who spend many hours helping us to be good stewards. It is truly one of our most dedicated teams.

The purpose of the Council is to advise the pastor in matters concerning financial planning and management in order to promote the good stewardship of resources and advance the mission of the parish community. And, of course, they prepare an annual report both for the Archbishop and for our parish family.

This year’s report shows the fruit of an active community of faith. I am very thankful that our use of Faith Direct continues to increase. The regular support of those giving through Faith Direct provides strong skeletal support for the Body of Christ here at Our Lady of Lourdes and its mission.

I would like to highlight a few things in our financial reports included in this bulletin. Looking at the report for the parish, the $539,241 subsidy is the parish school’s support toward paying off our long-term parish debt. When I arrived at OLOL in 2010, our long-term debt was $7.1 million and as you can see, we have reduced it to just over $3 million. We are making progress!

The $693,947 in repairs and maintenance is a reduction from last year but in the next few years we will have some major repair expenses as we get the property ready for our next chapter. Our property is heavily used throughout the year and “best practices” for a campus as large as OLOL would expect a yearly expense of $1.5 million to maintain it.

Finally, looking at the school report, you can see that our budget is set to pay a good wage to our teachers and staff as well as to keep tuition as low as possible. The $866,135 in surplus helps to cover salary expense in the summer when school is not in session and will help to cover the renovation of the track and basketball court. We are also adding bathrooms that will be accessible from outdoors at the basketball court.

Our Lady of Lourdes Church is a tremendous blessing for the people of Miami and even beyond. We can be proud of what, by God’s grace, we have been able to do so far, and embrace with confidence and enthusiasm the work, the life, which lies ahead!

Msgr. Schwanger
Pastor

READ MORE