Partners makes ‘Our Faith in Action’ the focus of 2013 campaign

“Our Faith in Action” is the theme of the 2013 Partners in Charity Appeal, Bishop McManus has announced in a letter to the people of the diocese. The campaign, held during this Year of Faith, will start with a gathering of priests and parish representatives on Jan. 28.
The theme - “Our Faith in Action” - is based on the ongoing commitment of the diocese to serve all needy people throughout Central Massachusetts, the bishop’s letter stated.
Patroness for this year’s appeal is St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native North American to be canonized a saint.
“Sharing the vision of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American woman to be declared a saint by the Church, is sure to inspire you,” Bishop McManus wrote. “This extraordinary young woman ...  was called by Pope Blessed John Paul II, God’s ‘bountiful gift’ to His Church and a ‘sweet, frail yet strong figure of a young woman who died when she was only twenty-four years old: St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the ‘Lily of the Mohawks.’ The daughter of a Mohawk chief and a Roman Catholic mother, Kateri was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.  Like Kateri, we strive each day to serve Our Lord in the poor wherever we find them.”
Kateri Tekakwitha was born in what is now upstate New York in 1654.  Her face was scarred by smallpox when she was a child and she was ostracized by her tribe when she became a Catholic. She was devoted to Jesus Christ and the Eucharist. She died April 17, 1680, at the age of 24. You can read more about St. Kateri, who has been called a model of the new evangelization, on the Partners in Charity website, www.partners-charity.net.
The Partners in Charity appeal helps to support charitable, educational and ministerial organizations in the diocese.
Bishop McManus has invited all pastors and diocesan priests to the kick-off gathering Jan. 28 at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Worcester.  Goals for each parish have been set by the Partners in Charity advisory board and the bishop. The diocesan goal this year will again be $5 million, Michael Gillespie, diocesan director of Stewardship and Development, said.
Mr. Gillespie has asked the parishes to conduct the traditional in-pew solicitations on the weekend of March 2 and 3. He said he also encourages on-line contributions at www.partners-charity.net, which raised about $200,000 in last year’s appeal.
He said people may contribute to the appeal with a one-time gift or pledge, payable over 10 months, with a credit card contribution or with an on-line gift or gift of securities.
Living a life of charity is for everyone, Pope John Paul II said at the beatification ceremony for Kateri in June 1980. He said that Kateri Tekakwitha’s “beatification should remind us that we are all called to a life of holiness, for in baptism God has chosen each one of us ‘to be holy and spotless and to live through love in his presence.’ Holiness of life - union with Christ through prayer and works of charity - is not something reserved to a select few among the members of the Church. It is the vocation of everyone.”