Thursday, 20 August 2009 08:26

A conversation with Bishop Jackels
Just as we are continually called to a deeper faith or a greater practice of our faith, the same can be said about stewardship. It can always be deeper or greater.
A parish may need assistance because not all the parishioners are practicing stewardship as a way of life. But some parishes may need assistance – even if they are extraordinary in their practice of stewardship – because there is a lower amount to tithe from. Ten percent of 10 dollars doesn’t go as far as 10 percent of 100 dollars or 1,000 dollars.
So there are parishes that may struggle to carry out the mission of the Church in their parish – particularly a Catholic school.
The St. Katharine Drexel Catholic School Fund was set up to help those parishes. All Catholics – and even those who aren’t Catholic – throughout the Diocese are invited to contribute to this fund.
You are invited even if you belong to a parish that does not have a school, if you do not have children, or if your parish school does not rely on funds from the St. Drexel fund because we are not Catholics just unto ourselves.

When a family member has lost a job or lost income, it’s not uncommon, in fact it’s right and good, for the family to pull together to help out and support that person. The same spirit is behind the St. Drexel fund.
It is a worthy appeal for a number of reasons, but if nothing else, because of the potential that a Catholic school education creates.
A Catholic school creates a greater potential for a young person to be formed as a Disciple of Christ and to grow in their knowledge of Jesus. And that knowledge then has the potential to lead to the decision to love the Lord Jesus, and everything follows from that.
Whether it’s serving the poor or helping out the unemployed or immigrants or people in need who are victims of some natural disaster, what inspires that is our love for Jesus, to want to imitate Jesus and to want to serve and to sacrifice as Jesus did.
We are called to imitate Christ, and so your mission is to serve as Disciples of Christ and to form Disciples of Christ in imitation of his mind and heart.
What would you not do? How could you say “no” to one thing or another?
You might say, “I don’t have any money left to contribute,” or “I don’t have the strength to dig a ditch.” But suppose the answer we might give is like Peter and John in the Acts of the Apostles, “I don’t have silver and gold to give, but here is something that I can give.”
Maybe you don’t have the ability to stand up and teach others, but you can pray for those who do that, or you can assist those who do that.
What grounds do we have for saying “no, I will not serve” when Jesus himself said “I am among you as one who serves. Where I am, there also my servant, my disciple, my follower will be.”

Want more info about the St. Drexel fund?
The St. Drexel fund assists 23 schools in 11 counties. To find out more about making a contribution to the fund contact Mike Wescott at 316-269-3915 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To learn about volunteer opportunities, contact your parish school offic­­e or go to www.drexelcatholicschoolfund.com.



Goals of the TOGETHER vision
• Strengthen the oneness between parish and diocese.
• Deepen our practice of stewardship as a way of life, sharing responsibility for the mission of the Church.
• Invite everyone to help fund seminarian education, Catholic formation programs and a renovation of the Cathedral campus.