Dear Friends 

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(February 9)

When you give to the Catholic Ministries Appeal to the Diocese of Rochester, your gift is joined with thousands of others to enable our diocesan community of faith to accomplish so much!

• Ministries are funded that nurture children and teenagers in the Catholic faith which teaches values they'll carry into adulthood
• Seminarians on the road to priestly ordination are educated
• Struggling families find their way through economic crisis and back to stability
• Engaged couples are prepared for God-centered marriages rooted in the Catholic Church
• Those who wish to become Catholic are educated and formed for the fullness of life in the Church through RCIA
• Our Catholic values about the sanctity of all life are promoted to help make our voice heard in society
• Programs are funded that give young adults on college campuses a connection to the Church.
• Important services, (such as Information Technology, Human Resources and Sacramental guidance) difficult to afford on our own are provided for our parish
• Ministries that reach out with the hands and heart of Christ to the aged, the sick, and the imprisoned are supported
• The crucial work of Catholic Charities, which serves more than 250,000 people annually is supported and funded.

This is just a partial list of those ministries which your Catholic Ministries Appeal gift supports. So many of you have already made a gift to the CMA. 199 donors have already made a pledge from Resurrection and 497 from Assumption. Thank you so very much!

I’m so grateful to announce that a wonderfully generous donor at Assumption, who has already made a tremendous gift to the Diocese, will give an additional $5,000 if we can match this new gift before Saturday March 7, 2020! Such generosity is truly outstanding.

Will you help meet this challenge? If you have not made a pledge yet, or even if you have, whatever you can pledge now will be matched, dollar for dollar. In effect, your gift will be doubled. This is such a unique opportunity for Assumption so that we can raise $10,000 more toward our goal of $234,000. Please don’t let this challenge gift slip away. Prayerfully reflect on all of the good work outlined above that your gift will accomplish. Yes, these are difficult times in the institutional Church. I understand this completely. But the work of building the Kingdom will continue. And this is where you play a vital role. I know you might be thinking, “Well, OK I hope someone steps up to this challenge.” Well, if you’re reading this column then that “someone” has to be you! The size of your gift (or your additional gift) will be matched dollar for dollar. This opportunity is itself a marvelous gift both to our parish and the Diocese of Rochester.

In order to help us meet this challenge, there are CMA envelopes in both Churches located at the ends of the pews. If you’d prefer, please call either of our Church offices and we’ll get a pledge card to you, or simply drop your gift (marked CMA Challenge) anonymously into the Sunday offering basket as it comes your way next weekend. You can also make your pledge online at  www.dor.org. Keep in mind that pledges are not due until the end of May, so there’s no need to provide the funds today.

“I am the vine,” Jesus said, and “we are the branches.” Your participation in this year’s CMA, and particularly your participation in Assumption’s CMA Challenge are tangible ways to bring the light of Christ to others within the twelve counties of the Diocese of Rochester. Let me thank you in advance for stepping up to this challenge.