CCF Wills & Trust

02-20-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Charlie Goraieb

Dear Friends,

Deacon James Carbajal, who is with us this weekend is a friend to many here at OLMC. He also comes to us with an important invitation. He and his associates will be showing how you can include OLMC in your estate plans.

Why would this be necessary? The Catholic attorney Mark Henry wrote Finish Well, a short book in which he shows how important it is for faithful Catholics to include their parish in their wills. He interviews a number of people to discover why they were not planning on doing so. Some said that the idea hadn’t occurred to them; others weren’t sure the parish needed the money. In one case, when a pastor found out that a well-known, active couple in the parish had planned to leave $5 million to the Boy Scouts, he was stunned to find out that they had no plans to include the parish in their estate. When he brought it up to the couple, they simply said that they were never asked.

There are so many really good things about our parish including the strong friendships many of you have, your love for the Lord and our Blessed Mother, our excellent school, all of the young families and the ways in which we serve the poor. All of these things and more are what constitute the core mission of the parish. But when it comes to our financial condition, we are not in the best condition. It is for that reason that we have not yet hired a much-needed youth minister or other any other staff.

You don’t have to have a large estate to make a bequest. And it doesn’t have to be a lot. If you leave even 5% to Our Lady of Mt Carmel it can make a big difference. At Wednesday’s seminar you will be shown the various ways to go about doing this, including how to make the gift while you are still living. However, you choose to do it, your legacy can help secure the continued mission and strong presence of our parish for years to come.

May God bless you and your family,

Fr Charlie Goraieb

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