This is an interesting read. His theory is:
1. This is a new social-economic class. They live precarious lives because their situations are so uncertain. They are unemployed and underemployed. They are often temporarily employed and earning low wages. It's not only that they earn little money, but they also find little meaning in what they do. The work pays low and is personally unfulfilling.
2. They are dangerous because they are made up of different groups: older men, immigrants, young underemployed graduates. They are not yet formed as a single group, and they may turn on one another.

One of the dangers is that this group is very much like pre-Hitler Germany. People felt excluded and were interested in any leader that had some one to blame for their troubles and provided a path for their future.

He has another book, The Precariat Charter, that is a list of steps that he thinks could be taken to provide better options for the precariat class to have a more productive and more stable future.

Thom S. Rainer is an author and speaker on church life. He is Protestant, so not everything fits the Catholic context, but much of what he says about congregations usually sheds light on parishes as well.

Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive is an interesting book. It is about 100 pages long.  It is available at Amazon.

He writes about how churches die (Thousands of churches close each year in the United States; most of them are very small.) .  His point is that in looking at why they lost their vitality and died, churches can change for the better.  Some of his chapters include:

• "The Past is the Hero" All the thinking about the church is what it was like once upon a time.  Usually the time chosen was a special time which was vibrant in the personal life of the rememberer. It avoids thinking about what the church should be like or doing today.
• "The Church Refused to Look Like the Community" People move. At least in large cities, they tend to move to the suburbs. Others come and move into the area where the church is. Congregations often see the people in their neighborhoods as "new people" or "outsiders." They do not see them as possible new members, and certainly not as some one to reach out to and invite.
• "The Budget Moved Inwardly" Another commentator said that there is a difference between "church work" and "the work of the church." Church work is internal; it is important. But it focuses on the internal life of the church; it is intended to prepare people to reach out to invite and serve others. The work of the Church is to evangelize, welcome, and serve others; it involves reaching out to the margins, as Pope Francis says. It the work mentioned by Jesus in the Last Judgment. But all too often, the church loses this focus and thinks of its own needs only.

I've been doing some work on the webpage.  I hope that this information will be useful and helpful.
There is a lot of information.  There are many activities, and it's good to share them.

The kids have been going to confession this week.  The students at school have been going to confession on different days this week. The religious education students have also started a schedule for confession.  It has been busy.

I am glad to see that the ministers in Plymouth are concerned about the families living at the Red Rock and Economy Inn.  There is a ministerial association that gathers for lunch once a month at the Brass Rail. The decision was taken that a number of churches would work together to provide meals on Thanksgiving Day to the people who live there.  I have been putting some fliers in the bulletin about some of the opportunities to help.

As you can see, the work on the roof has started. I don't have any word on when it will be finished.