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AID TO THE
CHURCH IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE  ASH
WEDNESDAY
While the countries of central and
eastern Europe and the former USSR endured decades of communist
oppression, the Church suffered grave wounds to its spiritual life and
pastoral capacity to serve its people. The countries included are
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania,
Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
For generations Church leaders
were killed or imprisoned. Catechists were persecuted, and churches,
monasteries, and seminaries were closed or destroyed. As a result of
this severe repression, the Church was greatly weakened. The bishops of
the region are faced with the formidable task of restoring its church
structures and, more importantly, rebuilding the spiritual center of its
communities.
To provide a resource pool for the
numerous projects of the bishops of central and eastern Europe, the
bishops of the United States voted unanimously in November 1990 to
authorize a national collection across the country. We hold this
collection on Ash Wednesday.
The money raised from this
collection assists the Church in central and eastern Europe in restoring
its pastoral capacity. Initiatives include the formation and training of
priests and religious; the development of catechetical programs,
materials, and teachers; the establishment of mass media and
communications apostolates; and the support of the Church's charitable
works.
It is a particularly positive sign
that in these difficult and uncertain times, American Catholics give
concrete witness of their compassionate concern for the universal
Church. Their support year after year of the still-fragile restoration
of the Church in central and eastern Europe fills Catholics there with
confidence and hope in the Gospel.
....more
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
The Catholic Relief Services
Collection (CRS Collection) is the annual parish collection taken up in
March during the fourth Sunday of Lent by the U.S. Catholic bishops.
For 60 years, the CRS Collection has supported agencies that build the
international social ministry of the Catholic Church. These ministries
include relief and resettlement services to victims of persecution, war,
and natural disasters, development programs to improve living conditions
of the poor, advocacy on behalf of the powerless, peace and
reconciliation work for people suffering from violence, and immigration
legal and support services for newcomers to the United States.
By lending our time, talent, and
treasure to the CRS Collection, we encounter Jesus in disguise in
our brothers and sisters all over the world and answer the U.S. Catholic
bishops’ call to global solidarity with them. Jesus in disguise
can be:
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one of the 43,000 people who die of
hunger and its consequences every day ;
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one of the 4.4. billion people living
in developing countries where basic sanitation is often lacking ;
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safe drinking water is scarce ,
-
adequate housing is a challenge ;
-
modern health services are almost
non-existent ;
-
education beyond a fifth-grade level
is rarely available;
-
one of nearly 15 million people
worldwide who are enduring desperate lives as refugees, unwelcome in
other countries and unable to return home ;
-
one of the 100,000 people assisted by
the Church who seek asylum and other legal immigration services each
year.
The CRS Collection gives us an
opportunity to do something about this suffering in very concrete and
lasting ways. It expresses our commitment to solidarity with the poor
and vulnerable all over the world.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops works in solidarity
with the poor in more than 90 countries and territories. CRS acts with
local communities and partners to respond to natural and humanitarian
disasters and to address the root causes of poverty through long-term
sustainable development projects.
....more
OPERATION
RICE BOWL LENT
 Millions of Catholics participate
in Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) annual Lenten program entitled
Operation Rice Bowl, now in its 28th year. In this year when the
severity of international crises continues to heighten, American
Catholics, through their participation in the program, put their faith
into action and walk in solidarity with their neighbors in need around
the world.
Approximately 12 million
Catholic parishioners, students and teachers will use the Operation Rice
Bowl materials as a guide to pray, fast, learn and give. The materials
offer daily prayers, such as for Ugandans living with HIV/AIDS; topics
for discussion and lessons for Catholic schoolchildren such as how
people in Brazil use cisterns to collect their water supply; and recipes
of simple meals such as Indian Dal soup to prepare during a day of
fasting. All of the proposed activities create awareness of life in the
developing world and raise awareness of the prospects for improving
livelihoods of the poor. Participants are also encouraged to make
financial contributions that support CRS programs overseas and local
programs in their own communities to help those in need.
Since CRS’ Operation Rice Bowl
program was adopted nationally in 1976, it has grown to include more
than 14,000 participating parishes, schools and other faith communities.
Three quarters of the funds raised support CRS development projects in
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The remaining 25 percent
remains in the dioceses and is used for local poverty and hunger
alleviation projects. ....more
 HOLY PLACES GOOD FRIDAY
This
collection, taken up on Good Friday , collects funds for support of the
sacred places, educational and charitable institutions in the Holy Land
through the Good Friday collection, and educates young men for the
Missions of the Custody of the Holy Land in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon,
Cyprus, Rhodes, Israel, and Egypt.
....more
HOME MISSIONS
COLLECTION LAST SUNDAY IN APRIL
 Coordinated by the USCCB Committee on the Home Missions, the Appeal
extends and strengthens the presence of the Church by helping provide
basic pastoral services. Such assistance is essential to the scattered
and isolated churches of the Appalachian mountains, west Texas, the deep
South and the islands of the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Catholic
Home Missions Appeal helps fund diocesan evangelization efforts, parish
religious education programs, seminarian education, lay ministry
training and the pastoral care of growing ethnic and migrant communities
on both diocesan and national levels.
For over 70 years, the Committee on the
Home Missions, under its former title "American Board of Catholic
Missions," has given grants to mission dioceses in the United States and
its dependencies, and has supported other missionary efforts in this
country.
...more
NATIONAL
COMMUNICATIONS COLLECTION THIRD
SUNDAY IN MAY
The Catholic Communication
Campaign (CCC) is an activity of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that develops media programming, projects, and
resources that promote Gospel values.
The work of the CCC is made possible by
the generous donations of Catholic parishioners from all across the
country to the CCC’s annual appeal. Proceeds from this collection are
divided equally between each diocese and the CCC’s national office in
Washington, DC.
Dioceses use their 50% share of
the CCC Collection to support local communications efforts such as
televised Masses and diocesan newspapers. And, on the national level,
CCC funds support the development and production of a wide range of
media programming.
For more than 25 years, the CCC has been
serving dioceses and parishioners by spreading faith-filled messages
locally and nationally on radio, television, in print and on the
Internet.
....more
PETER'S PENCE
LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE
The Peter’s Pence Collection
enables the Holy Father to respond with immediate emergency assistance
to th e
most disadvantaged people throughout the world—those who suffer as a
result of war, oppression, and natural disasters. As we participate in
this special appeal, we join with the more than one billion Catholics
worldwide in a loving expression of solidarity.
We share in the concern of the
successor of Peter for the many different needs of the universal Church
and for the relief of those most in need around the globe. In the last
ten years, the dioceses and eparchies of the United States have
contributed more than $175 million to provide disaster relief and aid to
their brothers and sisters across the globe. This year’s collection
theme, Goodness Works Quietly, was inspired by words from the Holy
Father. At a Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August
15, 2004), Pope John Paul II urged Catholics to follow Mary’s example,
calling the faithful to serve with trust and joy and to express the
power of love in the unassuming quietness of daily service. Through
works of charity, Catholics provide a quiet but powerful witness of love
and deeds to empower the weak, the defenseless, and the voiceless, and
to sustain those who suffer.
The worldwide Collection for the
Works of the Holy Father—or Peter’s Pence—began as a “pence” in
ninth-century England when King Alfred the Great collected monies from
English landowners as financial support for the pope. Pope Pius IX
formally instituted the modern Peter’s Pence Collection in the 1860s.
Special appeals have since been held in many countries on the Sunday
closest to June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. The tradition of
an annual collection continues today for the charitable works of the
Holy Father.
....more
LATIN AMERICAN
COLLECTION SEC OND
SUNDAY IN JULY
The resources gathered through the
National Collection are channeled through the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to the Committee of Bishops for the Church in
Latin America, who are in charge of the designation of funds and make
the final decisions on the matters related to the region.
The Committee gives aid
especially to the projects of the Church which are related to the
application of the conclusions drawn by the Second Vatican Council, of
the Second General Assembly of Latin American Bishops in Medellín,
Colombia and that of the Third General Assembly of Latin American
Bishops in Puebla, México. Special priority is also given to pastoral
programs and projects that provide the Church in Latin America with a
basis to effectively plan its actions.
....more
BLACK AND
INDIAN MISSION COLLECTION THIRD SUNDAY IN AUGUST
This collection for Black and Native Americans meets the needs of those
who would bring the light of Christ's witness to the impoverished, the
isolated and the despairing among the Black and Native American people.
Pope Benedict keeps asking the faithful
around the world to recommit themselves to their Catholic Faith. In this
light, many wonderful evangelization efforts are being made. It is only
through the constant generosity of each of us that such wonderful events
are realized.
The collection is now going on
121 years. In earlier years evangelization programs centered mostly in
the Southern and Midwestern States. As the church grew in numbers and
continues to spread over the entire United States...and that is
good...the message of the Gospel of Jesus is becoming better known. Our
own parish of St. John the Apostle on Bellemeade Avenue has received
grants from this collection.
Our support will help the many
programs begun in parishes and schools ministering to the Native
American and Black Catholic communities to continue.
...more
WORLD MISSION SUNDAY SECOND LAST SUNDAY IN OCTOBER
 World
Mission Sunday, organized by the Propagation of the Faith, is a day set
aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church's
missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice.
Annually, World Mission Sunday is
celebrated on the next-to-last Sunday in October. As described by Pope
Benedict, World Mission Sunday is "an important day in the life of the
Church because it teaches how to give: as an offering made to God, in
the Eucharistic celebration and for all the missions of the world."
Offerings from Catholics in the United
States, on World Mission Sunday and throughout the year, are combined
with offerings to the Propagation of the Faith worldwide. Mission
dioceses - about 1,100 at this time - receive regular annual assistance
from the funds collected. In addition, these mission dioceses submit
requests to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples for
assistance, among other needs, for catechetical programs, seminaries,
the work of Religious Communities, for communication and transportation
needs, and for the building of chapels, churches, orphanages and
schools. These needs are matched with the funds gathered in each year.
The world's national directors of the Propagation of the Faith vote on
these requests, matching the funds available with the greatest needs.
These funds are then distributed, in their entirety, to mission dioceses
throughout the world.
...more
CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT SUNDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING
 Whether it's helping chicken
farmers and poultry workers in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia fight for
better working conditions, supporting a Chicago neighborhood-development
program to rebuild schools and combat gang activity, or helping airport
workers earn a living wage in Los Angeles, the Catholic Campaign for
Human Development (CCHD) is helping residents of America's forgotten
state break free from poverty.
Since 1970 when it was established
by the U.S. Catholic bishops, CCHD has assisted people to rise out of
poverty through empowerment programs that foster self-sufficiency.
Through private donations and annual parish collections, CCHD has
offered more than $270 million in support to nearly 4,000 self-help
projects developed by grassroots groups of poor people in all 50 states,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Grants are awarded on the basis of need, not religious affiliation.
Each year CCHD distributes
national grants to more than 300 community-based projects that improve
neighborhoods, educate children, create jobs and more. In addition,
hundreds of smaller projects are funded through the 25% share of the
annual CCHD collection retained by dioceses. These projects have helped
low-income people to change their lives by creating opportunity where
none existed before and providing the means for poor people to find
solutions to their community's problems.
...more
RELIGIOUS
RETIREMENT
SECOND SUNDAY IN DECEMBER
The appeal, conducted by the
National Religious Retirement Office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops in Washington, assuages the projected $6.1 billion retirement
liability of the nation’s religious orders. The cost of skilled nursing
care and assisted living for more than 12,000 Catholic religious women
and men currently exceeds $1.3 million each day. Almost 40,000 Catholic
religious are past age 70.
There was a time, in the history of
our parish, when the Franciscan nuns who taught in our school, went
several years without receiving any pay at all. Even when they were
paid, the amount of money they received for the years was very
small—about $350 a year. Yet, they came to teach and to serve us. Much
the same can be said about the Benedictine nuns who taught many of our
parishioners at Mater Dei. Now many of these women are old and in need
of much care. The cost for their care far exceeds their resources.
As autonomous organizations,
Catholic religious institutes are not covered by church or diocesan
retirement plans. Today, 139 religious institutes have the capacity to
pay less than 20 percent of projected costs. Another 314 institutes
project 20 percent to 80 percent of costs to be unfunded..
....more
SPECIAL
MISSION APPEAL
Each year, a representative from a
missionary group is invited to come and make a presentation at the
weekend Masses during which time they invite the people of the parish to
support their efforts through their prayers and by their financial
contributions. Most of the time, this appeal is given by a person who is
working in the missions. Because of the scarcity of priests, this
person, when the is a priest, fills in for the pastor who is then able
to take a week end off. This
missionary appeal is coordinated through our Diocesan Office for the
Propagation of the Faith
SAINT MEINRAD
APPEAL
Each year in January, our Bishop
has given Saint Meinrad Seminary permission to make a special appeal to
our parishioners inviting them to join in supporting their works.
Saint Meinrad Seminary is owned and operated by the Benedictine
Community of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. For more information about Saint
Meinrad, click here
LITTLE
SISTERS OF THE POOR
 Each year the Little Sisters of the Poor
invite us to join in their work of caring for the aged poor. The Little
Sisters operate the St. John’s Home for the Aged (commonly known as
Little Sisters) located on 1236 Lincoln Avenue next to St. Benedict
Parish. Each year, the Little Sisters call to make arrangements to come
and make an appeal. They give a short presentation after communion at
all the Masses and then take up a collection at the church doors. For
more information about St. John's Home for the Age,
click here
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