Not Getting Hit on, Just Hit up

Our Archdiocese has embarked on this campaign to raise funds to support various services/programs/functions (seminary, ministries to the needy, schools, etc.), and to turn a percentage of the money raised by individual parishes back to those individual parishes for improvements/programs/what-have-you. Great. I have no problem with that. I think we get much-needed improvements to our parking lot, among other things, out of the deal. We got letters about a month or so ago with a suggestion of what we should pledge.

I've always given what I could, so what they hit me up for was what the law office in my previous career life would call "highball." (Of course, my parents--my models for generosity to the Church--got a figure that kept my mom up all night. I don't want to get into it, but my parents suffered a financial setback 4th qtr 2009. That didn't help.) The letter said not to respond just yet but to think it over and expect a phone call from a parish volunteer.

The call never came, and things got busy at Christmastime, so I put the letter in my filing.

This weekend at Mass, we were handed pledge cards and being asked to make (somewhat of a) commitment.

Personally, I don't find stuff like this during Mass appropriate, but I understand why it's done--to give the pastor has the opportunity to speak to all of us at once. And I know he doesn't enjoy talking about money in general, so he wasn't having a blast, either.

So, there was that unpleasantness, but what really irritated me was the stupid chart on the back of the pledge card that tried to put the pledging in perspective as a sacrifice.

A happy-face perspective on sacrifice that didn't relate to me.

"$27 monthly is a trip to the movies!" (Um, it's maybe $10 if I go. Alone.)

"$84 monthly is dinner out at a restaurant!" (Where? The Palm? 84 bucks is more than I pay a month for my car insurance.)

I think you can guess my point: These are correlations for married people. Families.

Well, of course that makes sense--I mean, families are what keep parishes going. A family can add new members to the church. I will consider myself lucky if in my lifetime I've inspired one person to think about his or her faith life.

But really, I felt left out. I felt even worse because I'm not sure how I can promise to give monthly for a couple years, when I am not working in a permanent job yet. (That situation is a whole other post for a whole other time.)

So I didn't fill out the card. Actually, I didn't even take one when they handed them out up in the choir loft, and probably the usher didn't think to push one on me because it's generally assumed that I live with my parents still (you know, not being married and all). I did, however, change my mind after Mass when a blank one turned up in a pew, and I put it in my purse to take home and think things over.

When Mom and I walked back to our cars, I complained how annoying those equivalencies were. How I felt "dissed" as a single, and what were they thinking? How can I give what they expect of me when I'm just a me?

Without missing a beat, my mom said, "Their marketing people have always been horrible."

Hmmmph.

She was right, I had to admit. This wasn't the time to strike a blow for single people in the Church. In fact, it was pretty much an equal opportunity irritant. This was the time to think, check off the box of what I think I can do, and pray that it will happen.

Hey, I probably should include a note that if they want the money, they'd better pray I have a job in the Fall, too.