February 4, 2023 Column Father De Celles
Fr. Daly. Hundreds of folks came to pray and show respect for Fr. Jerry Daly
during his 5 hour wake in the church last Friday, and we had a full church for the
funeral the next day. It was great to see the 40 plus priests and almost as many
altar boys, not to mention two bishops at the funeral. Msgr. John Cregan gave an
excellent homily, using Fr. Daly’s saintly life as a teaching instrument for us all. If
you weren’t there, you can see the video of the Mass on our website (on the drop
down menu click “WATCH LIVESTREAM MASS,” and on the “VIEW MASS
ONLINE” page scroll down to “Reverend Jerome Daly Funeral Mass at 11 am”).
The homily is at 23:40 minutes.
Thanks to all who made Fr. Jerry Daly’s funeral and wake so memorable.
Special thanks to the altar boys who served and formed the guard of honor, and
to our choir which sang so beautifully.
On that note, a particular thank you to our Music Director, Elisabeth Turco.
She has had a great affection and attachment to Fr. Daly for over 25 or so years,
ever since he hired her as Music Director at his parish at the time, St. John’s in
McLean. Unfortunately, she was out of the country visiting her elderly mother in
Hungary when Father died and was devastated at not being able to return in time
for the funeral. Even so, she planned and coordinated all the funeral music from
her mother’s home in Budapest, working with me, Fr. Scalia and Fr. Weston at
the chancery, the Daly family and our musicians and singers to make sure
everything went so beautifully at the funeral. She is so wonderful.
Also, particular thanks to Virginia Osella, our Parish Secretary who worked
so hard to coordinate everything, and then filled in masterfully for Elisabeth in
directing the choir at the funeral.
Also thanks to the Fairfax County Police Department for their motorcycle
escort to the cemetery. Normally they don’t do this, and never on a Saturday, but
through the encouragement of my friend, Fr. Gripshover, (pastor of St. Lawrence
and Chaplain to the FCPD) they came to understand what a special man Fr. Daly
was and gladly made an exceptions.
Also thanks to the United States Army and the soldiers they sent to honor
Fr. Daly at the gravesite, especially with a booming 21-gun salute. Wow. Again,
they don’t normally do this for a burial not at a national cemetery, and never on a
Saturday. But again, thanks to the efforts of one of our parishioners (who I think
would rather go unnamed) we were able to appeal to the highest levels of the
Army, literally, to help them understand exactly who Fr. Daly was. Once this was
done, all involved told me it was obvious the Army had to be there in full
force—and the soldiers told me what on honor it was for them to be there.
I am sad to lose Fr. Daly, but I was so glad we could honor him so well.
But the greatest way to honor him is to pray for his soul, that he may swiftly be
freed from all imperfections and receive the glorious reward that awaits him in
heaven. Remember the simple prayer every Catholic should know:
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord; And may perpetual light shine upon
him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of
God, rest in peace.
Parish Finances. I have been negligent in fully reporting last year’s financial
results to you. I apologize, but with the change in business managers in
September/October it was postponed and then, frankly, overlooked. I deeply
apologize for this delay.
Please find the Finance Report of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022
(FYE-6/22), inserted in this bulletin. This year we’ve included a 4-year
comparison, to show the changes from pre-Covid (FYE-6/19) to now.
The Report deserves your careful review, and it also deserves some
explanation on my part, as follows below. I hope my effort to give you a better
understanding of last year’s financial results isn’t too confusing—I’ll do my best
and apologize up front for my failures.
Operating Income (mainly from offertory, long-term maintenance
collections and other donations) was $2,226,119. But this is a little deceiving
(unintentionally) when we compare it to the prior years, since it includes
$243,686 in scholarship donations which, when I solicited these, I asked donors
to treat as completely separate from regular parish donations, i.e., completely
dedicated to scholarships.
When we back this number out, “Operating Income before scholarship
donations” was $1,982,433, up $274,055 (or 16%) from the comparable figure for
FYE-6/21, but still down $275,462 (12%) from FYE-6/19.
The increase in Operating Income (without scholarships) is mostly due to
the sharp increase in our Long-term Maintenance Donations, which were up
$154,267 from FYE-6/21, but still down by 92,835 (or 36%) from FYE-6/19.
The offertory collection was up $99,191 (or 7.4%) from FYE-6/21, but still
down by $276,793 (or 16%) from FYE-6/19.
Operating Expenses were $2,037,492, but “Operating Expenses before
scholarship payments” were $1,880,457 up $253,145 (or 15.5%) from the
comparable figure for FYE-6/21, and up $83,373 (4.6%) from FYE-6/19.
The increase in Operating Expenses (without scholarships) is primarily due
to 1) an increase in parish activities back to normal levels, i.e., pre-Covid
operations, and 2) inflation of about 16% since 2019.
Extraordinary Income was all over the place in the four years. The Capital
improvement expenditures this year relate to the Altar Rail and Pulpit installation.
This year we also received a $158,200 benefit when our “PPP Loan” (received in
FYE-6/20) from the Small Business Administration (to support payroll during
Covid) was officially forgiven (under the Covid relief provisions passed by
Congress).
All this left us with a Net Surplus (the bottom line) of $296,861. However,
this might give us a slightly distorted understanding of our fiscal situation if we
don’t consider that without these two extraordinary income/expense items, the
net surplus would only be $188,627. Moreover, without the income and expense
related to scholarships, the net surplus would only be $21,583.
On the Balance Sheet side, things look great. We had Cash on hand (in
operating account) of $223,897 in checking and $1,987,280 in savings.
I apologize for the confusing presentation regarding scholarships. I’ll try to
get a more user friendly presentation approved for next year.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions about the report.
Virginia March for Life. We’re taking a bus down to Richmond this Wednesday,
February 1. See details below under “SAINT RAYMOND’S RESPECTS LIFE.” I
hope to see you in Richmond!
Throat Blessing. This Friday is the Feast of St. Blaise, the day we traditionally
bless throats. The blessing will be given at the end of the two morning Masses,
as well as in the evening without a Mass at 5pm and 6:30pm—sharp! See you
then.
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles