Fourth Sunday of Easter

Hi. I’m Rick Fersch and for those of you who don’t know me, my wife Patti and I, along with our four grown children, are founding members of Christ Our Hope parish.  Our oldest is a parishioner here with her family, and their two daughters made their First Holy Communion here – Ellie just last week.  Our youngest, also a parishioner, is getting married here in August and our future son-in-law just came into full communion with the church here two weeks ago!

I retired about 12 years ago as President and CEO of Eddie Bauer (thank God  - talk about timing….) where I had worked for the last 15 years of my retail career until I suffered a pretty serious stroke.  I had just come back from London and was in an “executive committee” meeting at our headquarters in Redmond when it happened.  As I reflect back on that day, all I remember is lying in intensive care at Overlake hospital with the family gathered around me not able to speak and move.  (That sure does change your thinking in a lot of ways!) Especially, when you see a priest standing at the doorway of your room (extreme unction)!  But, I’m here today to speak as witness to the power of our sacraments – because within an hour after receiving the sacrament, I started to get my speech and movement back!   Needless to say, God was very good to me, but when a life incident like that occurs, it makes you step back and reevaluate how you are spending your life!                  

And that’s what brings me here today – kind of a down payment on the payback!  Patti and I have both been working at the Archdiocese of Seattle for over 11 years in stewardship & development (and for the past three years I have also had responsibility for the Office of Youth and Young Adult Evangelization).  I am responsible for running the Annual Catholic Appeal for the Archdiocese, so I come to you today in that capacity to talk to you about this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal.

Trying to keep this fairly short, I asked Father if it was okay to say, “If you give, you are saved.  If you don’t, you go to hell!”  He thought that was terribly inappropriate, so on to version #2!  Lord, let your face shine on us!  What draws us together and makes us one family is our belief that Jesus is the Christ, our love of God and one another, and our desire to follow God’s commandments.  These three beliefs are the core tradition of our family; the Church to which we belong.  Cautious “doubting” Thomas had to have proof before he would accept Jesus as Christ!  But you, each one of you, believe without proof and without having seen!  “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”.  You have this in common with all the other Catholics in the pew with you and with all the Catholics at Mass in churches today all over our archdiocese.  Each of us is a member of this huge family of blessed believers; all coming up in line to receive communion and saying, “Amen.”  Amen – I am part of the Body of Christ! Amen - I am part of everyone here and everyone here is part of me.

How do you take this wonderful communion with God and each other away from here after Mass?  How do you live your life as a member of the community of the Church?  How can you comfort a nervous young single mother about to bear her first child in a hospital in Bellingham?  How can you give a scholarship to a bright kid in Vancouver who can’t afford to attend a Catholic school?  How do you “do unto the least of these” by visiting someone who messed up their life and wound up in prison in Tacoma?  How do you contribute a bit to make rent affordable for a low-income senior in Seattle?  How do you make sure that an 80 year old nun has a secure retirement?  How do you encourage a young man to attend seminary and become a priest?                                                                        

That’s part of the belonging; part of the delight of being a Catholic.  Your Church does all these things; it comforts and helps the lonely, the sick and the poor.   Your Church, the Archdiocese of Seattle, provides over 60 ministries to the needy.  Your archdiocese, which is a community of over 750,000 Catholics all over Western Washington, lives out the principles of our tradition by preaching, teaching and serving.  Once a year, we are provided with an opportunity to show that we believe without having seen.  All members of the huge family that is the Church in Western Washington are provided with the opportunity to share with the rest of the family.  It is made easy because nobody is asked to give beyond their means and yet if each of you gives a gift, no matter how small, you are living out your faith.  “It” is called the Annual Catholic Appeal and I‘m here today to ask for your generous support. The Annual Catholic Appeal is all of the parishes working together to accomplish what we cannot do alone.

This is the true joy we get inside from giving and knowing our unconditional gift is able to help so many people in so many ways.  I know that we are in tough times economically, but I also know that we, as Catholics, are very generous people. We know that some of our parishioners this year will not be in a position to give a monetary gift, so I ask all of those who can, to please consider increasing your gift over last year.  If you haven’t given in the past, or if you are new to the Appeal, would you please consider giving a gift this year?  By giving a gift, you are making a difference in someone’s life today. Lord, let your face shine on us!

So here’s how it works – our parish has a dollar goal from the archdiocese and it covers our share of the expense necessary to maintain the services to others in need.  This year, our goal is $30,000!   The good news is that once we provide that support by raising those goal dollars, everything above that goal comes back as a rebate to us, the parish!  This year, Father, in consultation with our parish leadership, has targeted these extra dollars that we raise to fund the creation of the Four Evangelists done in terra-cotta (by the same artist who did our totem fireplace) to be placed in the four niches outside the Josephinum building (three on Stewart and one on 2^nd Ave).  Last year, we raised $50,000 over our goal and I know we can do it again.  $50,000 over our goal this year (for a total of $80,000) will enable us to do it.  So, remember, once we reach our goal – every dollar you give is a dollar that will help fund this exciting project.                                                                                                                                                           

So Rick, you would like us to give to the Annual Catholic Appeal to help the archdiocese and the parish, but what does “giving” actually mean?  A dollar?  A hundred dollars?  A thousand dollars? Well, all of the above work for me, but only you can determine what “the right amount” looks like for you.  In 2013, our average pledge amount was $566.00! So, that gives you an idea by which to measure your own gift, but all that matters is that you give from your head, your heart and your hand.  Last year, 49% of our parishioners gave to the Appeal.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get 100% participating?  “Is that possible”, you ask.  Absolutely, but only if you make it so.  If your self-talk is currently saying, “not interested”, I ask you to please reconsider and think about joining us.  If not for a monthly pledge, maybe a one-time donation. If not for $566.00, how about $365.00 – just a dollar a day?  A dollar a day – do you realize what that personal sacrifice could mean to some other individual here in Western Washington?  And if that is not possible, how about giving us a prayer?  We are aiming for 100% participation and that means an envelope returned from each household.  If you return yours today, that means Fr. Magnano won’t ask you for it again next weekend, or the next, or the next.  And he won’t pester you with a follow-up letter – do you see where I am going with this? Yes, Father is going to keep asking until he hears from you.  And if you truly can’t give a monetary gift, then please fill out the envelope and write in that you will offer a prayer for the ACA at our parish.  In doing so, you will be counted as participating and avoid a follow-up letter from Father. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if 100% of our parishioners joined with us this year in making a difference?

And now the moment you have all been waiting for.  It’s easy and fairly painless.  On your way in, you were given pencils and envelopes.  Please look at them.  I am going to give you four ways you can contribute: 

1.) Fill them out with me now - and put them in the offertory collection today!                                                                                

2.)  Take them home and reflect on your decision and bring them back next week.                                                                                  

3.) Donate or pledge online at www.seattlearchdiocese.org/donate             

4.) Use QR app on your smart phone.  Even though you were asked to turn off your phone at the beginning of Mass, Father has authorized you to turn them on now if you have a QR code reader app on your phone.  If you scan the code on the back of the envelope, you can make your donation now.

One final note – there are many companies that have a matching gift program. Ask if yours is one of them.  Please request a Matching Gift Form from your employer and send it to the Appeal Office – they’ll do the rest!  Matches can potentially double your gift, which means more going toward our Four Evangelists project.  Your company’s matching gift makes your gift the one that keeps giving.

Thank you for responding to our call.  Thank you for caring enough to listen and thank you for your continued generosity and for your support of the Annual Catholic Appeal.  Finally, thank you for being a Catholic and for making a difference because without you, there would be no Church.

Rick Fersch

Executive Director

Office of Stewardship and Development

Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle