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Commentary

By Liz Quirin

Keeping The Messenger in Your Home

It’s Messenger renewal time again. The weekend of Jan. 31-Feb. 1 we are asking our current subscribers to renew their subscriptions, and those who do not subscribe to consider trying The Messenger. It’s tough to sell anything these days, let alone a Catholic newspaper, no matter what the content of the paper.

I have been on a great adventure here for the past 17 years, and I have learned something about the geography of southern Illinois along with some extraordinary stories. The stories, and the people who have shared them, I treasure; the geography lesson I’m not so sure about. Going in the wrong direction on any given highway has been “situation normal” for me. If I don’t know a town, I look for the church steeple, but that hasn’t always worked.

During the flood of 1993, I was traveling on a National Guard helicopter with a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. He asked: “How long have you been taking aerial photos?” What time is it? I asked him. I met some tremendously courageous people from Valmeyer, Fults, Prairie Du Rocher, Columbia, Waterloo and the surrounding area that year. While it was a time of loss, it was also a time when people shared their lives and strengthened their faith as they struggled to rebuild and continue their journeys.

Our mission, here at The Messenger is to be a bridge throughout the diocese, sharing stories of faith with people and among parishes, linking one to the other through an enduring faith and hope in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
This year, more than any other, we are worried about our subscribers, how they are managing in an economy that ricochets from high to low as people watch their savings disappear. “It’s only on paper,” someone said, calling it an “unrealized loss.” Believe me, I realize it as a loss. As expenses increase, revenue decreases in homes and businesses, and many people are losing their jobs.

We know that everyone is cutting any extraneous costs to make it through these unpredictable times. We are no different. We were never extravagant, with our offices decorated in furniture that used to be called “second hand” but now is probably called “gently used.” It doesn’t matter what you call it, if somebody else doesn’t want it, we might be able to find a home for it here.

We hope The Messenger can continue, or begin to find a home with you. We kept subscriptions at $23.00 per year, the same price it has been for the past three years. We know it’s difficult to make ends meet, but we believe it is easier to knit those “ends” together with stories of faith and hope from others in the diocese and columns to encourage us to pause and consider what the Gospel means in our lives.