An appeal to your generosity

By Msgr. Thomas J. Sullivan

Pastor of Christ the King Parish, Worcester
Excerpted from July 30 TV Mass homily

St. Peter Chrysologus was an extraordinary bishop in the early 400s. He was the bishop of Ravenna, Italy – at the time the capital of the Roman empire. The emperor lived there. So it was an enormously important place to be a bishop.

That name “Chrysologus” means “golden-tongued,” something every preacher hopes to be. 

He was “Peter of the Golden Words,” who mastered the art of giving short sermons - and very successful in leading the people to Christ. And, like every bishop, like Bishop McManus, really cared for his flock and provided for them.

On one occasion he was preaching about prayer and mercy, and he said this: “While praying … if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”

I love that. “If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”

In that spirit I come before thousands of you today on behalf of those others - those “others” being the tens of thousands of persons our diocese serves each year through the annual Partners in Charity Appeal.

In today’s Gospel Jesus said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea … to gather everyone in.” Well, I’m throwing that net wide by appealing to you.

I come before you to ask for a gift or a pledge. Because of the pandemic - because our churches were completely closed for a couple of months - and because so many are still not able to get out to Mass - this essential appeal is really challenged this year. With one month to go we are $1.1 million short of our goal. That’s never happened before!

So, I hope you can make a gift today.

Partners in Charity funds the vital charities and the mission of the whole Church in our diocese for the year ahead.

Every parish participates. And, frankly, we need a gift from everyone.

Partners funds more than two dozen special programs without which the diocese simply cannot meet its obligation to provide charity and education as well as enrich the life of our parishes.

Tens of thousands of people were served this past year by Catholic Charities alone.

Pernet Family Health Service, which serves some of the poorest mothers and their children in our area, receives a major grant from Partners to help their work. They cannot continue without it.

The McAuley Nazareth Home for Boys in Leicester, founded by the wonderful Sisters of Mercy in the 1800s, provides a stable life for boys from dysfunctional families. They’re filled.

A thousand young people in Catholic schools get needed financial assistance to stay in school, while the Office of Religious Education works with parishes to strengthen programs for those in other schools.

We need priests to serve our parishes. Educating seminarians for four to six years of graduate school is an expensive thing indeed with tuitions, health care, and personal expenses. Partners provides for those expenses.

At the other end of the spectrum we provide income, a place to live, and food for those 50 retired priests who have given their entire lives to the service of the Church.

Through Partners we continue to reach out to the thousands of Latinos and Africans who come to our diocese - offer programs for couples preparing for marriage - prepare new deacons for the Church - and defend the lives of the vulnerable and the unborn.

All of this can only be accomplished by the gifts you make.

With all my heart, I hope you’ll be generous, this very day, in making a gift which reflects your gratitude to God for all you have - and remembering that our gifts must sustain these services every single day of the year ahead.

So, if you’ve not already made a gift, I invite your generosity.

You can easily obtain a pledge envelope from your parish. Just call them. They’ll get one to you.

You can call our diocese and make a gift over the phone.

You might ask a family member to make a gift on your behalf, particularly if you don’t use a computer.

Some have already made a gift. Perhaps you can possibly add to it by making a second gift or pledge in the days ahead.

Or, if you’ve received a government stimulus check and haven’t used it yet, perhaps donate part of that to help the Church.

And your donation will be credited to your parish to help them reach their goal.

“If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”

Thanks for hearing my appeal today. And God bless you for your goodness.