Bishop appeals; you react

In the past several issues, The Evangelist has carried full pages of information about the Bishop's Appeal (see page 32 this week). These have outlined how our gifts are used to train hospital chaplains, to support spiritually solid family life, and to educate clergy and laity in how to spread the Gospel. With our help, children will be educated in their faith, homeless people will find housing and senior citizens will be aided.

How much are we willing to give in order to bring about such positive results? The average gift from Catholics last year was just over $2 a week, a sum most of us can improve on, especially when we examine how much we spend each week on such non-essentials as candy, fast food, cable TV and movies (and the pricey popcorn that goes with them). The Bishop's Appeal helps to make our donations easier by splitting them into quarterly payments (it's less difficult to part with $200 when we're asked for $50 every three months).

Even in a time of economic slow-down, most of us have enough in our wallets to share more generously than two bucks a week, especially when we know the money will go toward those in need of physical and spiritual succor.

When we make our Bishop's Appeal pledge, we should pause long enough to count our blessings and then make a sacrificial offering so that others less fortunate can be helped to heal their bodies, minds and souls.
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