Called to give: The Annual Diocesan Appeal reaches faithful across the diocese

North Texas Catholic
(Oct 17, 2024) Feature

A volunteer helps distribute food at the All Saints Parish food pantry in Fort Worth on June 26. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

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In Matthew 13:31-32, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed: the smallest of seeds becomes the largest of plants. 

A mustard seed also provides a deeper understanding of stewardship, said Rachel Martinez, CFRE, the director of annual giving and grants with the Advancement Foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth. An individual donation can grow, impacting many lives in the parishes and schools of the diocese.

Last year, generous faithful succeeded in growing that mustard seed by raising more than $3.7 million for the 2024 Annual Diocesan Appeal. This summer, those funds were allotted to put stewardship in action by fostering, growing, and sustaining the faith in diocesan parishes, vocation efforts, ministries, and schools.

 

GRATEFUL AND GIVING

Every month at All Saints Church in Fort Worth, more than 300 families visit the parish food pantry, which is available every 15 days.

“You can see the need because we’ll start [the pickup line], and we’ll give the food supplies, and in half an hour, we’ll have run out, and the line will still be long and full of people waiting to receive provisions,” said Fernando Raga, a volunteer for the parish food pantry. “This is where our hearts break as we tell them, ‘Next time, next time.’”

A volunteer helps organize food at the All Saints Parish food pantry in Fort Worth on June 26. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

This year’s Annual Diocesan Appeal grant of $35,000 will allow the food pantry and its volunteers to continue and succeed in “seeing cheerful faces for another year,” he said.

“We have been very blessed to receive, and I hope we will share that gratitude in returning the gift, so we may continue growing and giving to the larger community,” Raga said. 

 

A DESERVING CLERGY

Deacon formation, seminarian education, and care for retired priests also receive an allotment of the Annual Diocesan Appeal contributions.

Living in a house that belongs to nearby Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Arlington, retired priest Monsignor Joseph Scantlin shared his vocation story and wisdom as a diocesan priest of 60 years with 13 seminarians this summer.

At the end of one of the visits, as the seminarians crowded around him for a quick picture, he happily remarked, “Nice to know when you’re almost 93 that not everybody’s forgotten who you are.”

 

ALL TOGETHER

A rural parish with approximately 160 devoted parishioners and families, Sacred Heart Parish in Seymour exceeded its 2024 parish giving goal with great effort.

Seminarian Luke Vina plays with Vacation Bible School attendees after a learning activity on July 6, 2023, at Sacred Heart Parish in Seymour. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

“We get a good amount of people that give, so we are blessed on that,” said Belinda Bench, the parish secretary and bookkeeper. “We only have so many parishioners here, and it’s farmers and hardworking people. 

“We work hard at trying to meet [the Appeal goal],” she said, adding that the congregation tries to “help other churches that are struggling, too.”

The parish, along with its sister parish St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Megargel, will receive a total of $25,000 in grants raised during the 2024 Annual Diocesan Appeal to assist with staff salaries and youth faith formation. 

“At St. Mary’s, all are volunteers except for Father [Jujuvarapu] Bose [pastor of both churches] and at Sacred Heart, we have three occasional part-time employees,” Bench said. Bench, a custodian, and a new safe environment coordinator make up the team.

 

POWER OF MINISTRIES

The Annual Diocesan Appeal’s fruits also reach the faithful attending Tarleton State University, where college students receive welcome and formation in the faith.

“We went from not having a building, a minister, or anything when I was a student 10 years ago to slowly adding men’s and women’s Bible studies, small groups, Rosaries, and more programs of that nature,” campus minister Nathan Mena said.

Located at St. Brendan Parish in Stephenville, Tarleton Catholic Campus Ministry offers daily Mass, a Catholic library, and a community to help students engage in theological discussion and spiritual expression.

“Once students graduate, they can take what they’ve grown in and learned with faith and fellowship here, and plug it into whatever parish, ministry, or whatever stage of life they move on to,” Mena said, describing his hopes for the recipients of the ministry. 

“I hope that they not just look for something to receive there [in their future parish], but that they volunteer, and they step up for the Church and for the world,” said the campus minister of four years.

The appeal grant has funded the campus minister’s salary and benefits for the next year.

“I guess I’d start with a message of gratitude, of thanksgiving,” Mena said, addressing the donors of the Appeal. 

Campus Minister at Tarleton State University Nathan Mena organizes outdoor fellowship. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

“They’ve helped support my job over the past few years, but it’s all about the students,” he continued. “It’s about helping them encounter their faith and encounter Christ and growing fellowship with one another in that community. It’s not about me — it’s always about Christ.”

 

THE SHEPHERD’S CALL

Followers of Christ must aspire to be the “last of all and the servant of all,” Bishop Michael Olson said, quoting Mark 9:35. In a letter to the faithful, he reminded the diocese that “your participation in the Annual Diocesan Appeal empowers the disciples serving the needs of the vulnerable and weak.” 

One must not lose sight of the power of the seed of one’s contribution. 

“We may think we do not encounter the lowliest and the least in our daily lives or even in our pews on Sunday, but they are there,” Bishop Olson continued in his letter. “From the woman in a crisis pregnancy, to the young person battling societal pressures and the fallen away Catholic questioning the Church, the vulnerable and the weak in faith are among us. 

“And the Church, specifically through you and your participation in the Annual Diocesan Appeal,” he wrote, “supports the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Stewardship, Annual Diocesan Appeal, Advancement Foundation, All Saints Church, trending-english