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March 17, 2012The 2012 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA) is underway. Unfortunately, money makes things happen. Many Catholics are "turned off" by the "seemingly constant" request for financial donations for the Church’s unmatched works of mercy. At the same time, most Catholics are "proud" of their Church’s role in the United States—and the world—in feeding the hungry, in sheltering homeless men, women, and children, in caring for victims of rape, in welcoming immigrants and helping them become Americans, in providing hospitals and nursing homes for the poor and the elderly.
In fact, most Catholics are impressed when they hear that next to the government, it is the Catholic Church that provides the greatest amount of social, financial, and pastoral care to those in need. Your Catholic Church is the largest pri-vate provider of healthcare for women in our nation. Imagine that…for the media would like you to think that we Catholics are opposed to women’s healthcare?!
So you see, money is a necessary component to carry on the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ—even Christ needed the financial assistance of people to make His ministry work.
Our 2012 parish goal for the AAA is $80,000, the same as in 2011, which we as a parish did not meet. We fell short some $7,738. It is my hope that we will meet our 2012 goal. I ask each of us, myself included, to consider what we can do to help. No gift is too small. Each one of us is called to help. What matters more than the size of the check, is the love with which it is of-fered. For your information, here is a look at 2011’s parish goals/amounts raised for our neighbors: St. Ann ($150,000/ $173,181), St. Patrick, Farmington ($105,000/$122,54), St. Mary ($175,000/$225,752), St. Bernard ($55,000/$57,162), St.Catherine ($80,000/$72,262),St. Mary, Unionville ($85,000/ $154,995). Our average gift was $296, other average gifts were: $363, $345, $486, and $378.
