January 31, 2021 – 3rd Sunday (Year B)
To Watch this as a Video Click Here.
[__01__] I bet you did not know it was movie night
(movie time) at Our Lady of Lourdes. Coming to church during the “archdiocesan
appeal time ”season, there’s a big screen, projector. Lights, camera, action.
Movie night. Movie time. That’s how you get through a pandemic. Lots
of movie nights. Even when you don’t expect it, it’s good to watch a movie.
This is an introduction to this annual
giving campaign and the video available at RCAN-DOT-ORG forward slash “VIDEO”.
Many years ago, as a child, I remember
going to Madison Square Garden with my father to a basketball game. I was 10 or
11 years old. While we were walking to on the west side, to Madison Square
Garden, somewhere between the Lincoln Tunnel and the Post Office, I saw a
person, a human being, totally horizontal, asleep on about 6 plastic shopping
bags that were holding her up off the ground.
I had never such a sight. I could not
take my eyes off this person. I was transfixed. My father told me to keep
walking. My father is one of the most generous people I know. He gives to many
charities. But, at that moment, there was nothing that either of us could do
for this woman, nor was she asking us to do something. She was asleep on her
bags, living on the street.
You are stopped and asked for money
from time to time, by people on the street. I am stopped and asked for money as
well, by people on the street, near our bus stop, in our parking lot, at the
rectory front door bell.
We do what we can.
I am not judging those particular
instances for you or for me. But, I know that we need institutions and
organizations to help to do the outreach that we cannot do on our own. We can
only do so much on our own as individuals and even as a single parish.
The Archdiocese has larger
institutions not only to feed the poor, but for shelter, for job training and
more through Catholic Charities.
For this reason, I ask for your
support for the annual appeal.
If you have never given, I ask you to
consider a gift, especially this year, with increased needs in the northeast NJ
region of the 4 counties of the Archdiocese.
Our goal is 28,000 (28,210) and we are
required– especially this year – to guarantee that we will make at least
$24,000 toward this goal.
I know that sounds like a lot. Last
year, we collected $14,000.
We want to do whatever we can. If we
go over the goal of 28,000, all the money comes back to Our Lady of Lourdes
parish.
The money supports many ministries
such as pastoral assistance to persons with disabilities, programs for married
couples and families, reminding us we are not only “church” in this building
but also a church of disciples in our home.
The appeal supports
Pastoral
Assistance to Persons with Disabilities. Through outreach to those with sensory
disabilities and learning needs, the appeal ensures we are caring for the poor
and the vulnerable.
Family Life. Through programs for families, married
couples and engaged couples, the appeal supports education and outreach for the
parish family we are called to form, not only by proclaiming the Gospel in
church but also at home and in everyday living.
College and University
Campus Ministry. Living the Incarnate
Word of the Gospel on 9 university campuses, Father Jim Chern (Lourdes weekend
assistant and former parochial vicar) of Montclair State University and others
work to build up a true Catholic community for charity, faith, and excellence
in higher-education settings for our young people.
Formation and
Education of Priests. Being called by
God, the priests and future priests of the Archdiocese rely on your support for
their education. Father Bob Suszko (Lourdes weekend assistant and former
parochial vicar), is engaged in the formation of seminarians at Immaculate
Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University.
[__02__] The grants and money collected through the
appeal have come back to help us at Lourdes including …
$45,000 grant to remediate –
environmentally an old oil tank buried in the ground that would have been our
responsibility.
$15,000 to caulk and seal all of our
church windows to help them survive for the long term.
Also, in 2018, we had a debt to the Archdiocese
of some unpaid bills that totaled $66,000.
As part of the appeal/campaign funds,
that 66,000 was forgiven. We did not have to pay that back.
That’s all because the Archdiocese had
some funds in order to forgive our loans.
It’s also significant that a division of the Archdiocese / Catholic
Charities rents out our school building to serve children with special learning
needs, many of whom are on the autistic spectrum. The rent paid by Catholic
Charities to Lourdes comprises more than one half – more than 50% of our total
income. We would be in a very different situation if we did not have this
rental income.
I ask your prayerful consideration.
You may give online. You may contact me at anytime via phone or email with
questions, or see me at church. Thank you…
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