College itself is not cheap. St. Edward s itself is very expensive. The demands of employment are becoming greater. We once talked about shortening the work week, but we are now discovering that the average work week is increasing. Many two-parent families stay afloat because now mother works.
Many parents have two jobs.
This has impacted both family life and the parishes and families whom we serve. In addition, the Church has increased demands. One bishop predicted that the greatest source of tension in the Church in the next ten years will not be the hot issues, but rising expectations and decreasing resources. What he meant is that people do expect more and more, but we have fewer and fewer clergy available to serve them. In recent years we have been witnessing a huge increase in the number of Hispanics, including Spanish speaking immigrants, in our parishes.