Immaculate Heart of Mary

Catholic Church

 March 5th, 2021

  

Dear Parishioners and friends,

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It has been approximately one year since our world began to experience this pandemic.  The horrible Covid-19 virus has touched every corner of the Earth, taking many lives and affecting many families.  It has changed the way families conduct their daily affairs; how students attend school, and how we gather and celebrate with friends and loved ones.

 

This pandemic has also affected our Parish family.  Many parishioners and friends have been unable to attend Mass for fear of infections due to underlying health conditions and other circumstances.  All of these reasons are very understandable.  Our Parish continues to have daily and Sunday Mass.  We take extreme caution in the way we welcome parishioners and friends to the chapel and church building: by first checking their temperatures, having them sanitize their hands and requiring social distancing.  In addition, after each Mass these buildings are cleaned and sanitized.  Even with all of these precautions in place, attendance has been extremely low. 

 

The low attendance, in turn, has caused our weekly collections and special donations to be way below their normal amount.  This has put our Parish in a very serious financial situation. 

 

Our Parish’s physical buildings include five very large structures that we must maintain and safeguard for future generations: the church building, the parish office, the school building, the Parish Hall and the priest residence.  Maintaining the utilities for the five structures, along with the necessary repairs, has become extremely challenging.  Still due is the $33,981.00 annual insurance premium.  In addition, the parish has four employees not including the pastor.  All of the employees have had their work hours reduced along with cutbacks in benefits.

 

In the past, the weekly donations from the parishioners’ tithes, along with all of the other projects held year-round, such as the two Fiestas (fall and spring), the two Annual Drawings, and the Annual Chicken Barbecue, would significantly help offset the costs of the operation of the parish.  Due to the COVID restrictions and CDC recommendations, we were unable to hold those fundraisers.  Recently, the parish has had to borrow $12,035.47 and additionally $11,087.35 the second time, from a local bank to be able to make ends meet.  Most recently, we asked for a donation of $10,327.00 from the Diocese of Brownsville to help pay part of the parish's annual building insurance premium.

 

OUR PARISH NEEDS YOUR HELP.  Future generations deserve to worship and gather here just as we have.  We have made wonderful memories together and we look forward to so many more as a parish family.  At this difficult time, we are reaching out to you and asking you to please make a special donation to our Parish, so that we can meet our immediate financial obligations.  Until this pandemic is resolved, our debt will continue to mount.  You can mail your donations to 412 South C Street, Harlingen, TX, 78550, or call the parish office at (956) 423-0855 to donate with a credit/debit card.  You can also bring your donations to the parish office in person.  Please, DO NOT drop envelopes with cash at the office mail box as it is not safe.

 

We want to express our gratitude for those parishioners and friends who continue to contribute on a weekly or monthly basis and to those who contribute as they are able.  Thank you for all of your kind and generous support.

 

Most importantly, we kindly ask that we all continue to keep our Parish community in our prayers.

 

Humbly submitted to you by,

    

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Pastoral Council, Financial Council and Parish Pastor.

 

  

 

412 South “C” Street – Harlingen, Texas 78550 - Phone 956-423-0855