What exactly is a “vow of simple living”?
After I did a little bit more research I found that I was incorrect in the vow of simple living. You are correct in stating they are rather encouraged to live simply. I appreciate everyone pointing that out and clearing up my misconception.
According to my priest, and yes I asked him, they make promises. There are no vows made.
Thats a good idea. i think that following him to the grocery store is also a must. make sure he is buying ground beef instead of Steaks and make sure he doesnt buy anything else that makes him look like he is not living a simple life.
It was bad enough reading Crumpy’s post. OMG!I had the sense that Estebob was being ironic to the post of Crumpy’s. I suppose he should have used the rolling eyes smilie, to make it clear.
(I hope this was not his true self.)
?When our new pastor came, he got rid of just about every member of the Finance Council. He just had one stay on, and that was a guy who agreed with him on everything. He also got rid of the business manager, who was straight by the book, and hired some lady from the parish who again, agreed with everything he said. The lady, by the way, does not go to church nor follow proper accounting procedures. Nothing this current pastor does with money would surprise me. My point is, this financial group would never disagree with the pastor, or any financial decisions he makes.
Thats what you told me I should have put on my postEstebob,
Now I’m really confused. What did you mean by
It indicates sarcasm. Thanks for your quick reply. I would not want to offend you, since I suspected you were using a specific literary form, and not that you agreed with Crumpy.smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_6_1.gifNo, not that one. the rolling eyes one.
Okay, that one is the evil eye. But maybe you knew that.
God works in mysterious ways and always finds ways to make good out of bad. The recent sex scandal and the financial payouts has exposed that many dioceses and parishes are not run as financially sound as they should be. Based on the directive from the USCCB, I know that my diocese is implementing uniform accounting and financial controls across all parishes and is requiring submission of financial statements and budgets which can be audited by the diocese. It is my understanding that this is being done across the nation.
You’re right, I just fell into this “vow” thing.
Section 1567 of the Catechism.But when the parish is meeting its financial obligations to the archdiocese, the archdiocese is less inclined to rock the boat. Submitting financial statements is fine, but unless the diocese auditors come to the parish and see the parish business manager is on one of the Sunday collection counting teams or note the actual counting procedures, who will know the difference (other than the bottom line)?
First, the The financial directive that is coming from our diocese at the direction of the USCCB has standards of procedure which will provide for a review of individual parishes and their statements. And the procedures cover how the money is handled. My parish happens to be among the first to operate under these standards. Over time, it is my understanding that they will be universal.
I don’t blame your Pastor for being very preoccupied with this matter. He doesn’t want to have scandal come down on your parish and himself. I applaud him for taking this interest. Unfortunately, sometimes they aren’t properly trained/knowledgeable on what should be done so they take it all on themself. However, my strong suspicion is that as the diocese gets better at providing direction and feedback via their deanery meetings, the procedures will improve at your parish.
The new procedures required by my diocese provides for greater disclosure. It is my understanding that this direction came from the USCCB. For your information, my parish is the very first in our diocese to operate under these procedures because the head financial officer of the diocese is in my parish. He wants to observe them for relevance and challenges of implementation before rolling out diocese wide. I am confident that this will be ultimately addressed. Just be patient. However, if you have concerns, I advise you to talk to teh President of hte Finance Council and your Pastor. It will help them realize the importance of what will be directed to them from the diocese and that they are not just more work for an already over-worked volunteer council.
On point #1- I hope these directives follow generally accepted accounting priciples, such as a seperation between the person writing the checks and the person receiving the money and recording the money. Also, who is handles the collection. I also hope these directives provide parish visits to actually see how things are done in practice.
My only comment is it is God’s money. We have given it freely out of love (or we ought to have). However, parishioners should desire and do what is appropriate to see it is spent as if it is God’s money. Accountability and transparency are good things. This being said, there are matters that need to be tended to w/ discretion and so as not to cause undue division or gossip. There is a point in which we need to trust our Pastor and the Finance Council.
