Feb. 20, 2022 – Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Dubuque
You may have seen in the bulletin last week the annual appeal for Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Dubuque. This is the branch of the Archdiocese that specifically does charitable works here in the northeast region of Iowa caring for the least and poor in our midst. As Jesus says in Matthew 25 “Whatever you do to the least of me you do unto me.”
They offer services of Affordable Housing, Counseling Services, Jail and Prison Reentry Services, Post-Adoption Search (helping adults who were adopted re-connect with their families), Disaster Resources, and Immigration Legal Services. And again, these services are provided not in some far-off place, but right here, in our region of the world, living as Christ’s hands and feet loving for and caring for the poor. Now, certainly, there are many other ways the poor are being cared for through more local ministries of various other services and parishes. I think about some of the ways our local parishes are already doing that through various efforts here: our Social Concerns fund in Ackley; The Food Pantry in Hampton; the Barnabas House in Iowa Falls; and the Matthew 25 Mission Fund in Eldora, just to name a few, not to mention all the other varied (and sometimes unseen ways), you all-volunteer and serve and donate to various ministries and organizations that care for the poor, and also the way various groups of the parish do that as well (Knights of Columbus, Women’s Group, Seton Circle, Altar Society, etc.). But of course, as Catholics, we recognize that we are not only a local parish but also live Church as part of a larger “universal” (which is what “catholic” means) Church. So as Church we are part of not just our local parish as “church” but also we are the part of the Church of the Archdiocese, shepherded by our very own Apostle, or that is, a successor to the Apostles, that is, our Archbishop. In recognizing this we extend our care for the poor throughout our broader “local” Church through the Archdiocese of Dubuque through the support of Catholic Charities, which provides the needed professional services for the poor and those in need.
We are also, of course, part of the worldwide universal institution of the Holy Catholic Church established by Christ to bring about His Kingdom headed by the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, that is the Bishop of Rome that we call, “the Pope.”
Speaking of the worldwide universal Catholic Church, and together serving the poor as Church: For our parish almsgiving this upcoming Lent, rather than generally supporting Catholic Relief Services (which of course offers good services all over the world), we will focus our giving to support Haiti, and the efforts of the Church there, as we have the personal connection through Fr. Frantz. I will say more about our Lenten Almsgiving to support Haiti NEXT WEEK in my Bulletin Column!
Peace,
-Fr. Kevin
