The Entire Thought

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Holy Name:

The staff of Holy Name Parish Family sends you our sincere wishes for a blessed Christmas season and a new year in which dreams come true. Our parish has received an early Christmas gift from the City of Steamboat Springs which is a dream come true: The plans for our new church were approved by the Planning Commission on
December 10th and by the City Council on December 15th! After three years of hard work by our Development
Committee and architect, we are now poised to launch into the new year with new hope that is grounded in reality. Our city officials have joined our parishioners and visitors in recognizing the need and desire for a beautiful new Catholic church in downtown Steamboat Springs.

According to a New Year’s Eve custom in my family (handed down by my Italian sister-in-law), someone opens up the front and back doors of the house at the stroke of midnight so that all the bad luck of the previous year can fly out the back door and all the good luck of the new year can fly in the front door. This seems especially appropriate at the end of 2009. By all accounts it was the worst year for our nation’s economy since the Great Depression. It also happened to be the first full year of our church’s capital campaign. Yet, in the midst of this financial crisis, our
parishioners and visitors have contributed approximately $1,438,000 in cash with outstanding pledges of about $1,524,000 for a total of almost $3 million! This is an amazing testimony to the faith and love of the Body of Christ, nothing short of a miracle! If we made it this far during such a terrible year, let the new year kindle our hope that the bad luck will fly out the back door and the good luck will fly in the front on the wings of God’s Spirit.

I am deeply grateful to all who have invested their time, talent or treasure to get us to this landmark. However, we still have to raise about $2 million to reach our goal. The sooner we raise the money the more we may save on
construction costs during this sluggish economy. Our project could put lots of our residents back to work. So, if you are able to remember our building project in your end-of-year giving, it would be very helpful.

We hope that all of our parishioners and visitors will make a pledge to our capital campaign. Pledges enable us to project our cash flow into the future and estimate when we would be able to break ground. 52% of our registered parishioners and 79% of our visitors have not yet made a pledge to our campaign. This gives me great hope that, if everyone joined together, we could afford to build a beautiful new home for our growing community. If you are one of those who have not yet made a pledge, I ask you to prayerfully consider doing so. I will follow-up with you early in the New Year with a brochure about the new church and a pledge card for your consideration. If you have already made a gift to our new church, I thank you, and I invite you to prayerfully consider making another gift or pledge, if you are able.

As we celebrate the Solemnity of Christmas, let us together rekindle the hope it brings. At the coldest and darkest time of the year we put lights on our houses and evergreens to proclaim that the Light of the World “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The days are growing longer and God’s kingdom is growing in our midst. Let us place our hope in the Lord, praying that our community and our new church will reveal the holy light of His love.


Fr. Ernest Bayer

Entire list of Thoughts While Pastoring