by Carl Brown
You know that feeling you get when you read Matthew 25? The feeling like you’re not prepared for an exam, or you’re not ready to do that annual review with your boss?
Matthew 25 is where Jesus lists the corporal works of mercy.
I remember reading Matthew 25 and asking myself, “Am I doing enough to feed the poor and visit the sick?”
Then reality set in and I asked myself, “When am I realistically going to visit the imprisoned?”
It’s a crazy fast-paced world. Duties at home, at work, with the kids, with your parents: they can all add up.
Thank God for the CMA: the Catholic Ministries Appeal. By contributing to the CMA, we are ALL making sure that the corporal works of mercy are being practiced in our Archdiocese.
The CMA has great news! This past year (2023) was the biggest campaign EVER!
More than anyone in the world, the Catholic Church teaches, feeds, and heals. In our Archdiocese, this happens through the Catholic Ministries Appeal.
For the past decade, the goal of the CMA has been $5 million. As of October 2, 2023, you and your fellow parishioners made payments of over $6.2 million in support of these great ministries!
Those are some outstanding numbers!
And those outstanding numbers allowed us, together, to do a lot of outstanding things:
-Because of the CMA, Catholic Charities served over 362,000 meals!
-Because of the CMA, 40,000 patients in hospitals across the Archdiocese received a visit, not just from Hospital Ministry, but from Jesus truly present in the Eucharist.
-Because of the CMA, prisoners across the Archdiocese heard the life-changing message that God has a plan for their lives. As a result, 7 inmates went through the RCIA process, and are now our brothers and sisters in Christ!
-Because of the CMA, children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have communication needs were able to receive an education that met their individual needs educationally and socially at St. Rita’s School for the Deaf.
-Because of the CMA, there are 54 men in formation to serve as priests for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
-Because of the CMA, tens of thousands of students at three major Universities (Miami, UC, and Wright State) were able to find engaging programs, and a community of support amidst an environment hostile to their faith. As a result of the Campus Ministry program, several couples met their future spouses, and several students discerned a call to ministry, and in a couple of cases, a call to the priesthood.
And that’s not all! There are other programs and ministries that help people where they are. All of this is made possible by the Catholic Ministries Appeal.
This coming year, when the Annual CMA Appeal rolls out, ask yourself:
-Where can you collaborate with other Catholics in the Archdiocese to make sure the corporal works of mercy are being practiced?
-How can you express gratitude to God for all the blessings in your life?
-How can the rest of the world see that we, as Catholics love our neighbor, if not through these ministries?
Then ask yourself, what will happen if you make an act of trust, by financially supporting these ministries?
Because maybe (just maybe), if you do, God will be true to His word when he said, “Put me to the test in this, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10)
