Why the Pastor shouldn't ask for money

People complain the Pastor is always asking for money and he doesn't appreciate the fact that we are in a deep recession.

In the pastor's State of the Parish homily, a once a year event, he gave us some statistics like 80% of the donations are coming from 20% of the contributors and the vast majority of contributors are putting a dollar or less in the collection.
I started thinking about what you can buy for a dollar. A sign outside of WaWa says "Cigarettes $5.69 Lowest Price allowed by law". If a smoker smoked 3 less cigarettes a day each week they could put $5 in the collection basket on Sunday and still be 69 cents ahead. One dollar will buy you 1/2 gallon of gas. Last year it would only buy a 1/4 gallon. I wonder how many gallons of fuel oil or natural gas it takes to heat the church in the winter? How about downsizing from the large coffee or "Big Gulp" or "Super Size" to Regular at the Fast Food stops?

I do agree on one thing, the pastor should not be asking for money at all. After all, pastors will come and go but the debts and/or assets of the parish remain for those of us who choose to worship here. Our consciences should be speaking to us about our common needs to keep these facilities running for our benefit, comfort and convenience. And when our consciences are dulled or silent then it should be the people of the parish themselves who remind us not the Pastor.

Lou Barbuscio