...That you have stepped forward in an altogether remarkable way in response to this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal?

This year’s “theme” for the Annual Catholic Appeal is: “Live the Mission with a Generous Heart” and that is an incredibly accurate description of what we are experiencing! As you know “Mission” is our middle name! We strive to be “mission minded” in all that we do! (One of the just criticisms of the Church in the developed First World, is that it tends to be “maintenance minded”: expending almost all of its resources, energy and focus on maintaining programs, buildings, and numbers. This is ‘upside down’ from the vision of the Church which we will be reading about in the Acts of the Apostles in the coming weeks of the Easter Season, where almost all of the resources, energy and focus are on mission. Pope Benedict XVI wisely remarked that “the Church doesn’t have a mission; the Church is Mission, or it’s not the Church of JESUS Christ!”) Over the years we have found that if we make Mission our priority, there is always sufficient to take care of necessary maintenance. Always. We trust that this is God’s abundant blessing on our willingness to “Live the Mission with a generous heart!” This is true of our Parish. This is true of our families and our individual members!

At the beginning of Lent this year, we asked if you would make the Annual Catholic Appeal your special Lenten almsgiving and to see if we could make our Parish Goal in time for Easter. Your response has been overwhelming and edifying. As of today we are now at 126% of our Goal ($168,507) in gifts and pledges! Perhaps part of the reason for your incredibly generous response to the Annual Catholic Appeal this year is knowing that the Appeal supports Seminary education and support for Vocations, and we have been hugely blessed by the presence of Seminarian Carlos Nagore with us for his year of “internship”! We could, of course, declare the Annual Catholic Appeal finished for this year, but that would not be in line with our history of going the extra mile in Mission! There are a number of parishes in our Diocese that struggle to make their Annual Catholic Appeal goal – for many reasons, some economic, some because they’re caught in a maintenance mentality and don’t see the Annual Catholic Appeal as the expression of our shared Mission for the whole Diocese. Here is our God-given opportunity to “lead in Mission” and make certain that the 26 ministries and apostolates supported by the Annual Catholic Appeal are fully funded. We are asking that IF you have not yet participated in the Annual Catholic Appeal that you will do so now! Would you please consider a one-time Gift of $26 – just one dollar for each of the 26 ministries and apostolates which depend on the Annual Catholic

Appeal. IF your situation allows, would you consider a one-time Gift of $260 – just ten dollars for each of these vital ministries? As we were invited to make the Annual Catholic Appeal our Lenten Almsgiving, perhaps now you could make your Gift to the Appeal as an Easter thanksgiving and participation in the Mission of the Church which began in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and continues through us today!