Bishop's Appeal seeks $6.5 million to assist ministries
By Chris Donahue
Staff writer
PISCATAWAY — The Bishop’s Annual Appeal supports a wide variety of pastoral, educational and charitable ministries, including vocations to the priesthood and religious life, families in crisis, hospital chaplains who visit the sick, and catechists who help sixth-graders understand why the Scriptures are relevant.
To help keep those ministries strong as well as support some new ones, the faithful of the diocese will be asked to donate to the 2008 Bishop’s Annual Appeal, which will be launched the weekend of Sept. 13-14 with pastors’ presentations at all Masses.
Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski said the theme of the $6.5 million campaign, “Continuing the Mission of Christ,” is meant to remind the faithful that they carry forward the work of Christ himself under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
At a briefing for pastors at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center Aug. 27, Bishop Bootkoski asked them to urge the faithful, as part of the Pauline Year, to read the epistles of St. Paul, which show how the church has traditionally helped others in need.
“It is called Bishop’s Annual Appeal, but it is not about me,” he said. “It is about us. It is about the diocese and what we are doing for our people in so many areas.
“More than ever before, people are hurting, so your support of the Bishop’s Annual Appeal is needed.”
Demonstrating faith
The kick-off weekend of the diocese’s 21st Bishop’s Annual Appeal will feature banners and posters on display in the diocese’s 108 parishes. Also, a special edition of The Catholic Spirit will be distributed at Masses.
On Sept. 17, information on the appeal will be mailed to every household in the diocese, which serves 600,000 Catholics in Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon and Warren counties.
During weekend Masses Sept. 20-21, a letter from Bishop Bootkoski will be read and a video which explains the goals of the Bishop’s Annual Appeal will be shown.
In the letter, Bishop Bootkoski writes: “As brothers and sisters united as followers of our Lord, we carry forward the work of Christ himself under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Each of us is challenged to use the abundance with which we have been blessed to witness to the truth and to serve one another.”
Support for the appeal “is a tangible way in which we demonstrate our love, commitment and determination as people of faith.”
Over the years, the Bishop’s Annual Appeal has raised more than $81 million.
In preparation, training sessions for parish lay committee members will be held Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m., at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway; and at Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Whitehouse Station, Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m.
On Oct. 7, Bishop Bootkoski is scheduled to host an evening prayer and reception to thank members of the Bishop’s Guild and the new Fidelis Society for their generosity at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, 7:30 p.m.
Spreading the Gospel
During the pastor’s meeting, Father Sylvester J. Cronin, executive director of the Department of Stewardship and Development, spoke about this year’s appeal and the generosity of the faithful for the 2007 campaign.
This year’s goal is $200,000 more than in 2007, Father Cronin noted, because support is needed for new ministries such as the Department of Formation and Leadership, the Department of Diocesan Planning and the Office of Social Justice.
The establishment of these ministries was influenced by what was learned from the faithful through the first diocesan synod, he said.
“We are ‘continuing the mission’ because we want to spread the Gospel of Jesus and we are connecting it to years past and all the great work that has been done,” Father Cronin said. “Hopefully, one day we can say, ‘Look what we did or started in 2008.”
For the 2007 campaign, pledges exceeded the $6.3 million goal by $56,424, according to Father Cronin.
As of Sept. 4, a total of $6,254,934.40 in pledges or 98.4 percent had been paid, Father Cronin said. That total may increase through December for tax purposes, he said.
The total pledges is significant because there were 31,684 donors in 2007, which is 1,252 fewer than 2006, Father Cronin said. However, the average donation in 2007 was $197 compared to $190 the year before, he said.
The diocese’s percent of redemption is also noteworthy, Father Cronin added, because the national average for payments on pledges for 2007 is 92 percent, according to the International Catholic Stewardship Council.
He attributed the high percentages of giving and redemption to the “goodness of the people of this diocese and the leadership of the pastors.”
“If somebody gives $15, $20 or $100,000 they are responding generously in proportion to what the Lord has given them,” he said. “They are helping to support all of the diocese’s services and ministries, and giving joyfully.”
One family
Among the 108 parishes preparing for the campaign kick off is St. James in Woodbridge.
Father Charles W. Cicerale, administrator, said he tries to speak about the appeal from the pulpit at every Mass and has the banner raised and posters displayed.
Father Cicerale, who also serves on the campaign’s Pastors’ Advisory Committee, said he reminds the faithful that “one parish cannot make it alone and that we are part of a larger family that is the Diocese of Metuchen.”
He also stresses how their donations support social service organizations such as Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, which is the largest of the five dioceses in New Jersey, and that Catholic Charities in the United States is the second-largest social service agency after the federal government.
“We have a lot to be proud of, but those are like well-kept secrets, that we are part of something very large and if it was gone tomorrow a lot of people would be suffering,” Father Cicerale said.
St. James annually pledges more than 97 percent of its goal and was just short of 100 percent in 2007, he added.
Father Cicerale said he is grateful to his parishioners for their generosity. When donations to its food pantry dipped earlier this summer, they responded with “a tremendous output of canned goods and stuff.”
“This parish has a remarkable sense of caring for the weakest in our community,” he added. “I am very grateful for that. I see a tremendous spirit of generosity and love here.
“I try to help people see that part of our personal mission through our baptism is to tend to the needs and to tend anonymously. It is not always about having our name written in a book with a donation of $300 or $500 in a certain category.”
Visual reminders
The 10-minute Bishop’s Annual Appeal video includes scenes from some of the ministries the campaign supports in education, pastoral care and charity.
Several students, parents and administrators discuss the positive impact Catholic education and how it helps remind them of their baptismal call to assist the needy at home and overseas.
Felician Sister Cynthia Babyak, campus minister at one of the two diocesan high schools — Bishop George Ahr in Edison — said Catholic education is like being in a family which helps teach how to accept, work and pray with one another as well as have fun.
“How will we survive if we don’t teach each other how to care about other people?” Sister Cyndi said.
Also appearing in the video is Cecelia P. Regan, director of the Office for Catechesis, discussing the important role catechists serve in the diocese.
“The mission of the church is faith formation and evangelization and catechists probably do that better than anybody else because they meet the families where they are. They really help them in their journey of faith,” she said.
The video also shows how the Bishop’s Annual Appeal helps support vocations and the retired clergy who live at Maria Regina Residence, Somerset; and how it empowers lives through Catholic Charities.
In conclusion, Bishop Bootkoski said: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who have contributed in the past. To those who are considering it, I pray that you will make that decision to join us, brothers and sisters, and to give of yourselves in discipleship; your time, talent and treasure…there are so many out there that need our help.”
