A Special Appeal - Oct 30, 2022

This weekend we, with all the parishes of our Diocese, make the big push for, and take up, the annual Catholic Services Appeal. This is, as you probably know, the annual fund-raising push of our Diocese for the funds to do the work of the Diocese. This drive funds seminary education for diocesan priests and permanent deacons, supports the Gabriel Project, ministry to people in prisons, and many other good works. It also helps to fund the operation of the Diocesan Pastoral Center.

Here at St. Austin parish, over the last several years, we have received tremendous help from the Diocese in bringing our parish/school development program to reality. We would not be seeing our new parish offices and ministry space, and new state-of-the-art parish school, going up right before our eyes without countless hours and much expertise from the Chancellor of the Diocese and the CFO of the Diocese. Deacon Ron Walker and Mary Beth Koenig put many hours into this project and brought a wealth of experience and a critical eye to all of our legal and financial planning. And while sometimes it felt restricting, in reality it was most helpful.
So in a very real and concrete way, we at St. Austin Parish and School are part and parcel of the Diocese of Austin.

Therefore, I encourage you to prayerfully consider how God is calling you to respond to this Catholic Services Appeal. Certainly there are many appeals out there, not least of which is our parish and our great development project. When Jesus tells us we must be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves (MT 10:16), that being “wise” applies to our good works, including our generosity. So pray over this and think about what you are
called to do.

Thank you for all you do for our parish, our Diocese, and the Church Universal.

God bless!