Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / CSA supports many ministries, programs
CSA supports many ministries, programs
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published August 22, 2008
Orchard Lake — Not everyone realizes the difference the Catholic Services Appeal makes in the life of the Archdiocese of Detroit, but those involved in an array of ministries can bear witness to how CSA dollars help their efforts.
For example, Jeff Spencer knows how CSA-funded programs have helped the men's group at his parish.
"The men's conferences sponsored each year by the archdiocese are the catalyst in many cases for men to join – or start – men's groups in their parishes," says Spencer, one of the founders of the Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Men's Fellowship.
"It's a beautiful day in itself, but also encourages men to get involved in their parishes," he says.
The men's conferences, held early in the year, draw several thousand men from throughout the archdiocese and beyond to hear prominent speakers discuss the faith and men's spirituality. They are sponsored by the archdiocesan Department of Parish Life and Services, which is among the ministries funded through the CSA.
Spencer says men's groups at the parish level, such as the one at his Orchard Lake parish, provide a kind of support system for men who are trying to live as faithful Catholics.
"Socially, it's wonderful, but it's also spiritually wonderful. It provides a foundation for constant spiritual growth," he says.
The men's fellowship gathers for 7:30 a.m. Mass on the first and third Saturdays of each month, followed by study of that's week's Gospel, accompanied by coffee and doughnuts.
Dan O'Brien, another member of the fellowship, says involvement in the group also leads to other things. "I would say it's really deepened the faith life and the prayer life of many guys in the parish. Plus, you see men's fellowship guys stepping up to be lectors or eucharistic ministers or getting involved in other ways," he says.
At St. Anthony Parish in Belleville, Joyce Bujak says her parish's plans to do active evangelization have been advanced by training programs offered by the Department of Parish Life and Services.
"What they did was open our eyes to some possibilities of what we could do at the parish. (The experience) strengthened our commitment to further develop our parish as a welcoming and open parish, and strengthened our realization of the need to re-evangelize ourselves," Bujak says.
Julie Weber, a chaplain with Karmanos Hospice, brings comfort to terminally ill cancer patients and their families, thanks to support from CSA funds. "I take Communion to patients, and if they want a priest, I've always been able to get one. Sometimes, by the time we get a patient, they don't have very long and it is more the families than the patient I minister to," says Weber, a member of Our Lady of La Salette Parish in Berkley.
Her salary is shared by Karmanos Hospice, an affiliate of the Karmanos Cancer Institute, and the CSA-funded archdiocesan Department of Parish Life and Services.
Weber says it is important to continue such a ministry: "I believe God is there at deathbeds, and 98 percent of patients are able to come to some kind of peace by the time they die."
Her ministry has deepened her own faith life, Weber continues. "I couldn't do this with a prayer life of my own; I pray before a visit, during a visit and after a visit," she says.
Besides the Department of Parish Life and Services, CSA provides the funding for Sacred Heart Major Seminary, the archdiocesan Department of Education, the Metropolitan Tribunal, and the CTND Catholic cable TV channel. The Michigan Catholic also benefits.
Archdiocesan officials are hoping parishes that have not yet completed their 2008 CSA campaigns and parishioners who have not yet pledged will do so in coming weeks, so these ministries can be fully funded.
Each year, the archdiocese announces an overall goal for the CSA, determined by what is needed to fund the ministries it supports, with this year's set at $17,575,542 and each parish assigned a portion of that as its individual target. While, technically, that goal was met as of Aug. 1, many parishes strive to exceed their targets, because every dollar sent in above its target goes right back to the parish. So, that figure published in the Aug. 8 issue of The Michigan Catholic, $17,781,137, while appearing as though the overall goal had been exceeded by about $200,000, actually reflected a shortfall of about $500,000 once funds are returned to parishes.
And even now, the most recent pledge total of $18,305,157 leaves about a $250,000 shortfall in pledges that can be applied to the archdiocesan ministries budget.
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