Christ Our Hope gifts reflect the commitment, ‘we believe in the mission of the archdiocese’

By Natalie Hoefer

Imagine a situation where parishes must each pay for the education and retirement of its priests. Where each parish must provide housing and food for the needy within its boundaries, placement for refugees, and professional development for its parish school teachers.

With the United Catholic Appeal: Christ Our Hope (UCA), parishes need not incur such financial burdens.

“The United Catholic Appeal allows all parishes to pull together their resources in order to have the greatest impact possible in central and southern Indiana,” explains Jolinda Moore, archdiocesan director of stewardship and development. (Related: What your appeal donation can do in central and southern Indiana)

For Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, that impact comes down to mission.

“In a certain sense, we are missionaries,” he explains. “Not simply for financial [gifts], but for the commitment the financial contribution represents. We’re putting our money where our mouth is. We believe in the mission of the archdiocese, and we want to encourage other people to share that belief.

“My hope is that participation in the campaign helps every Catholic to identify personally with the mission of the archdiocese. I am confident that, together, we can reach the new goal, but I also hope that the number of contributors to the UCA will continue to grow.”

And to accomplish that, Moore says, it is important for Catholics in central and southern Indiana to realize that no gift to the United Catholic Appeal is too small.

“We as Christians are called to give sacrificially, and that amount is going to vary from person to person,” she explains. “I think what’s most important is when a person decides what they’re going to give, they think of what God has entrusted them with and decide what they feel he is calling them to give back.”

For some, she says an extremely sacrificial gift might be $10. For others a gift of sacrifice could be $100, while for some it could be a much higher amount.

“We feel the United Catholic Appeal will be successful if everyone in the archdiocese reflects on what true sacrificial giving feels like to them, and makes a gift,” says Moore.

“It’s like this quote from our [UCA] literature that says, ‘Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’ ”

These points are all thoughts to consider during the upcoming UCA intention weekend on Nov. 7-8, which will again involve the in-pew approach in many parishes as it did last year.

“People are bombarded with information on a daily basis via e-mail, radio, television,” says Moore. “The in-pew approach allows people to have a moment just with them and the pastor within the church, to pause and really reflect on the gifts they’ve been given. I think that’s why the in-pew approach is so effective.”

The goal for this year’s United Catholic Appeal is $6.2 million. The money will be distributed to various ministries and organizations throughout the archdiocese that provide help no single parish could independently offer.

To provide just a few examples of areas that benefit from UCA donations: $1.8 million of this year’s goal is designated for clergy retirement; $1.5 million will help educate seminarians; $600,000 will be distributed among the Catholic Charities agencies that serve in all corners of the archdiocese; $650,000 is budgeted for the Office of Catholic Schools; and $200,000 will go toward the works of the Office of Pro-Life and Family Life.

“These are vital ministries,” explains Archbishop Tobin. “We’re not talking about a bloated bureaucracy or wasting of people’s generosity.

“I am convinced of the value of the UCA and am a member of the Miter Society [those who contribute $1,500 or more].”

For a glimpse of even more ways in which the UCA donations help throughout central and southern Indiana, a series of “Ministry Minute” video clips are available by logging on to www.archindy.org/uca.

“All of the money raised from the United Catholic Appeal funds ministries, which means it changes people’s lives and allows us to give back to God what’s been entrusted to us,” Moore says.

Which brings the focus back to the mission of Catholics in central and southern Indiana.

“By our baptism, … we’ve been given the mission to share [the Gospel] with people who don’t yet know what we know, or may have forgotten it,” says Archbishop Tobin.

“Our contribution of time, talent or treasure to the mission of the Church is not simply a token, but it’s something I really believe in because it’s a source of my identity in this world and in the next.”
 

(For more information on the United Catholic Appeal, log on to www.archindy.org/uca or call the Office of Stewardship and Development at 317-236-1415 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1415.) †