LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE
The Diocesan Ministries Appeal
October 3, 2021

Once a pastor explained to his congregation that the church was in need of some extra money, so he asked them to consider being more than generous, offering whoever gave the most money the chance to pick three hymns.

After the collection basket was passed around the church, the pastor glanced down and noticed that someone had graciously offered up a total of $1,000. He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy with his congregation and said he’d like to personally thank the person who placed the money in the basket.

A very quiet, elderly, saintly lady in the back of the church shyly raised her hand. The pastor asked her to come to the front, so she slowly she made her way towards him.

The pastor told her how wonderful it was that she gave so much, and in thanks he told her that, as promised, she could pick out three hymns.

Her eyes brightened as she looked over the congregation and pointed: “I’ll take him and I'll take him and I'll take him.”

Sometime over the past two weeks you should have received a letter from Bishop Kevin in the mail asking you to consider giving a donation to the Diocese Paterson’s Annual Ministries Appeal. This year, the appeal is called, Let Your Light Shine.” The title is taken from a line in chapter five of Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father”

And you do that! The light of your faith shines brightly by your attendance at Sunday mass, through your participation in the events and organizations of our parish, in your unselfish outreach to the community and through your generous weekly contributions to St. Kateri. Though other parishes struggled greatly to make ends meet as their contributions declined by tens of thousands of dollars during the pandemic, our didn’t and we were able to pay our bills, pay the salaries of the members of our parish staff, and continue to minister as we always did in happier, healthier and less fearful times thanks to you.

A lot of times, when people are asked to dig deep into their pockets and savings accounts and to contribute to this or that cause, their initial response is, “Charity begins at home and I need to take care of my own.” And that might have been your first thought after reading the bishop’s request.

But earlier in our Mass, during the Creed, we proclaimed that we believe in the ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC and APOSTOIC Church. Did you ever stop and consider what that means?

When we say we are ONE, we are declaring that there is a unity between ourselves and with every other parishioner in every other parish within our diocese and throughout our world. We are one family, proclaiming the same God as our Father.

We are HOLY through our connection with Jesus, the Holy One, and when we follow his teachings and his way of life . . . when we follow him who said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom” and “the last shall be first and the first shall be last. The greatest among you is the one who serves.”

When declare we are CATHOLIC, we’re saying that the Church is universal and is open to all people – the rich and healthy and successful . . . and the poor and the ill and those down on their luck.

And we are APOSTOLIC through connection to the twelve Apostles, the ones Jesus commissioned to teach, to feed the hungry, to give drink to the poor, to welcome the stranger, to cloth the naked and to care for the sick in his name.

Yes, “Charity begins at home,” but we truly are members of the Church when our notion of home and family takes on a broader perspective than just the roof over our heads and the people who dwell within the same four walls.

You might ask, “What’s appealing about the Diocesan Annual Missions Appeal. If you decide to give, your contribution is far-reaching:

Pre-COVID, diocesan food pantries assisted between 5,000 to 7,000 people monthly. They are now seeing about 20,000 people come in each month as those in need continue to deal with the lingering impact of the coronavirus.

The diocese provides emergency housing and homelessness prevention, after-school mentoring and counseling programs for children, support for infants and toddlers with developmental delays, as well as support for children, from birth to 21 years of age with special health care needs.

For adults with developmental disabilities, the diocese maintains groups homes and employment training programs. For senior citizens, it provides bi-weekly groceries and in-home support for chores and minor home repairs. For veterans, the diocese provides outreach, advocacy, social work, temporary housing support, clothing and food.

The Diocese of Paterson also provides for drug and alcohol treatment: in-patient drug and alcohol detoxification, a halfway house for men, residential addiction treatment for pregnant women and support for mothers of young children struggling with addiction. Last year, the Appeal provided over $319,000 directly to Straight and Narrow to assist in their rebuilding efforts after the massive fire in August of 2019.

The Diocesan Ministries Appeal also helps fund seminarian education and supports priests’ extraordinary healthcare needs as well as Nazareth Village, our diocesan priests’ retirement residence in Chester.

Be assured that the funds raised through the Diocesan Ministries Appeal are used only for these goals. They are used for no other purpose and are never forwarded to any other local diocese or archdiocese. The funds raised in the Paterson Diocese stay in the Paterson Diocese.

St. Kateri’s goal for this year’s Diocesan Missions Appeal is $33,022. But here’s the good news - half of the amount received over our parish goal is given back to our parish. Over $900,000 was returned to parishes from last year’s Appeal – and over $3.65 million in five years. And, because of your generosity in the past, a substantial amount of money came back to our parish for our own needs.

And so I ask you to think about . . . pray about . . . making a contribution to this year’s Diocesan Ministries Appeal and Letting Your Light Shine. I can’t guarantee that Fr, Vidal will allow you to choose the him, him and him of your liking. But I can guarantee that the him, him and him and the her, her and her that you will assist will be eternally grateful.