“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me." (Mt:25:40)

There are more than 1 billion Catholic Christians in the world. What a different society it would be if we each did something for someone needier than ourselves.

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, our Lord teaches that love of God and love of neighbor are inƟmately intertwined. This past year especially, we as a parish and as individuals have been called to love God more deeply by serving our brothers and sisters in extraordinary ways.

Factoid: The Bible is available in 2,300 languages; however, the world has 6,700 languages. People who speak two-thirds of the world's languages have not yet heard the Gospel. Jesus Christ tells us we have to do a more thorough job of telling everyone about who can be “their” Light. Is that not our challenge, too? To take care of each other? As we continue our faith journey, we need to ask ourselves how God may be calling us to reveal His goodness to others. We need to ask ourselves how we are answering our baptismal promise to be “beacons” of Christ's light to the world.

For the past few weeks, our Archdiocese has been actively conducting the 2021 Cardinal’s Archdiocesan Stewardship Appeal. You have received a letter from Cardinal Dolan and our pastor Fr. Sorgie indicating that the Appeal is vital to the work and life of the Archdiocese of New York and each of its parishes, including ours.

As we consider making our pledge to the Cardinal’s Archdiocesan Stewardship Appeal, the gifts we already have are gifts from God, and we receive them gratefully. We nurture His gifts responsibly and share His gifts lovingly with others.

In the face of a challenging economy, we remain thankful to God for all we have. As a sign of our gratitude, we must respond to the Appeal, which helps all those who minister to the needs of God’s people. But where does the money go?

The Appeal supports:

• Caring for the elderly
• Feeding the hungry
• Teaching our children the truths of our faith
• Helping churches on the margin who need to keep their doors open so their parishioners can pray and feel secure in their faith
• Providing for all of us the hearing the Word of God and receiving the Sacraments
• Educating our future priests and deacons
• Assisting our retired religious, affording them the opportunity to live their golden years with dignity, security and peace
• Providing resources for Catholic Charities to respond to the needs created by a pandemic, terrorism, and world disasters, and to assist in the fight for the unborn.