Pastor's Notes
February 3, 2002
From the Pastor
Next week we begin our annual CDA campaign, the Bishop's once-a-year campaign to raise the funds needed to support the many important works of the Catholic Church throughout the diocese. We at St. Catherine's benefit in direct ways from CDA. We received $80,000.00 to help us defray the costs of the school. Also, in cooperation with Catholic Social Services we now have a full-time community referral person, Sara Walters, is available to help anyone in need find just the right agency or group of people who can help them. In addition, in the very near future we will also have a trained immigration counselor who will be available to help you with any immigration issues you might have. These excellent and much needed services are possible thanks to the generosity of those who contribute to CDA.
In the last two years we at St. Catherine's have not done as well as we have in years before in responding to this campaign. There are many reasons which could account for this, and I'm sure that most of them are very serious. But I would like to ask you to please consider very carefully how you can generously respond to our Bishop's appeal. I would love to see us contribute $65,000 to the CDA. That is something we could be very proud of. It would also be a clear statement that we understand our role as Catholics and are doing our share to help those in need.
Many of you will choose to make a one-time donation on February 9th and 10th, which is fine. But many more are capable of making a monthly donation over the course of the year. There are a lot of ways to do this, which we will explain at Mass. The main point is to be thinking about how you can generously respond to the CDA. One suggestion is to set aside 1% of your yearly income for CDA. For example, if you make $25,000 a year, then a donation of $250 would be a generous response. The Lord has given each of us so much, we in turn are called to show our gratitude by returning some of that to those in need. This donation would of course be in addition to your weekly commitment to support St. Catherine's. May our Lord guide you in your discernment process.
God's Blessing and Grace to You,
Father Charlie Goraieb, Pastor
