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Practice Almsgiving
In case you haven’t noticed, Lent is a week and a half gone. It’s a good time to check our resolve for our Lenten practices. And in case you haven’t yet decided on an appropriate penance or discipline, we recommend to you Pope Benedict XVI’s recommendations.
In his pre-Lent message, the Holy Father warned Christians around the world not to become slaves to material goods, especially financial wealth. The practice of almsgiving, he said, is a great way to assist those in need and at the same time to remind ourselves that we do not seek an earthly kingdom.
The lure and attraction of wealth and financial success is tremendous in today’s capitalist world. We live in a society that survives on profits and losses and we strive to be on the side of the winners.
There’s nothing wrong with making money and paying our way through life, but the Holy Father reminds us that others are in need and we should respond to them by sharing our own good fortune.
Coming to the assistance of others is not just an act of charity but it is an obligation. Giving of our own possessions is an excellent way to find true conversion and reconciliation with our Creator.
As a practical matter, we all soon will be asked to participate in the Diocese’s Annual Catholic Appeal, which essentially supports the infrastructure of the Church in Brooklyn and Queens. These donations assist our bishop in supporting older priests and religious, educating our youngsters, training lay leaders and improving pastoral ministry throughout the diocese.
The Appeal video can assist us in understanding the needs of the diocese. If it is offered for viewing in your parish, make yourself available to see it.
One of the great aspects of the Appeal is that once a parish’s goal is met, all additional donations are returned to the individual parish for special projects or even catching up on outstanding bills.
Be assured that the diocese does not spend your contributions frivolously. As you can find in the eight-page pullout in this edition, the diocese has gone to great pains to spell out its financial condition. Read it for yourself and see how your funds are being used. We think you’ll agree that the Diocese of Brooklyn is fiscally responsible and is worthy of your support. Be generous when giving to this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal. It will turn out to be a wonderful Lenten practice that will keep paying dividends to the local Church.
An Honest Conversation
This week’s Readers’ Forum contains a particularly lively group of letters to the editor. All of them are responses to two other letters that appeared in this space earlier this month.
Never mix religion and politics is a wise old adage. When you do, the results can be explosive, as you can see when you read the letters.
Nevertheless, the differences of opinion that are being expressed in the Readers’ Forum are testament to the differences of opinion among people of good will.
As Catholics, of course, we are united in the core beliefs of the faith, as expressed in the Apostles’ Creed. And we wish that we all could agree on political strategies as well. But the reality is that there always will be differences of how we interpret the signs of the times.
We point out these letters during Catholic Press Month as a reminder that the Catholic newspaper should have room for all Catholics to express themselves. Again, we are not talking about dissent on matters of faith and morals. We are saying that even Catholics have differences when it comes to politics and allegiances.
When selecting letters to appear on these pages, we seek to eliminate all personal attacks and we hope we have done so with those currently on view. We ask letter writers to stick to the arguments so that there can be an honest and forthright discussion of the facts. As one letter writer said, she was glad that The Tablet printed an opposing view because it made her think through her own positions.
The Tablet, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, has always been known as a lively forum for the expression of ideas. That has been true because the leadership of the diocese and the people who make up this local Church have always been among the most active and thoughtful members of the Church.
Your letters are welcome. Every letter sent to the editor is read and considered for print. The criteria for letters is printed every week in the box on the left side of this page.
Our hope is that even more of our readers will enter into the discussion of ideas and contribute their own opinions about the state of affairs and the future of the Church. Out of good ideas come great ideas. The constant conversation will help build up the Body of Christ and engage us all in a dialogue in which we all will understand each other even more.
Our thanks to all our readers for their constant support of our Readers’ Forum. We are hardly at a loss for letters to print week in and week out. Our hope is that the number of letters will even grow in volume as well as intellectual charity for one another.
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