Intention weekend for Called to Serve appeal is Nov. 4-5

By Sean Gallagher

This weekend, Catholics in 94 parishes across the archdiocese will be invited to prayerfully pledge their support of time, talent and treasure to their local faith community and to the broader Church in central and southern Indiana.

Nov. 4-5 is “Intention Weekend” for the Called to Serve: Parish Stewardship and United Catholic Appeal.

The remaining parishes not participating in the Called to Serve appeal have either just completed their involvement in the Legacy for Our Mission: For Our Children and the Future campaign or are in the midst of doing so.

Catholics in the participating parishes will have already received a letter from their

pastor that included a card that gives them the opportunity to express their interest in participating in their parish’s ministries and to pledge their monetary support for the coming year through the appeal to their parish and the archdiocese as a whole.

During Masses at their parish this weekend, parishioners will be invited to turn in these pledge cards in collection baskets.

The archdiocese hopes to raise $5.5 million through the appeal to support shared ministries and home missions.

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein said the appeal “is one way you can help people in need.

“By sharing your God-given gifts, you will help support your parish ministries and enhance our archdiocesan community collectively as the Body of Christ.

“Your gift allows us to continue our journey to build up the kingdom of God.”

A shared ministry is a program that provides important services so large that no one parish can maintain it. They include various efforts of Catholic Charities throughout the archdiocese, the support of retired priests and the formation of seminarians.

Deacon Randall Summers, a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis, is one of the archdiocese’s future priests who is supported in his priestly formation through the Called to Serve appeal.

Ordained a transitional deacon on Oct. 28 at Saint Meinrad Archabbey Church in St. Meinrad, Deacon Summers recently said it was a “great thing” that men like him are able to be assured of financial support through the appeal while they actively

discern in the seminary whether God is calling them to the priesthood.

“If they had to worry about financial obligations, a lot of them might not be able to do that,” he said.

Deacon Summers said that the

seminarians frequently pray for their

benefactors during their daily liturgies.

“We continually remember all of our benefactors and those that support us here at the seminary both financially and spiritually,” he said. “It’s a very common petition you might hear at Morning Prayer or during Mass or Evening Prayer.”

With ordination to the priesthood less than a year away, Deacon Summers is looking forward to showing his gratitude through service to those who have supported his formation over the years through the appeal.

“I’ll be assigned to a parish initially or possibly a school,” he said. “And then after a couple of years or so, more than likely I’ll be made a pastor of one or two or three [parishes], whatever the case may be.

“And that’s a great opportunity to, in a sense, give back to all of those who were so generous in their support.”

Over the years, Deacon Summers may have the opportunity to “give back” in a number of archdiocesan parishes.

Some of the parishes from time to time, need financial assistance to carry out their vital ministries.

One such parish is St. Rose Parish in Knightstown in the Connersville Deanery.

St. Rose Parish is relatively small, numbering 70 households among its members. All of the families value the ministry that they receive from the parish and in which they participate.

This past year, St. Rose Parish received a grant from the St. Francis Xavier Home Mission Fund to make restrooms accessible for people with disabilities.

Each year, the Called to Serve appeal helps replenish this fund so that more parishes like St. Rose can receive the aid they need.

Kathy Zielinga, a longtime member of St. Rose Parish, thinks the renovated restrooms and other recent improvements have helped her faith community reach out to more people.

“Since we have those things, we’ve seen more handicapped and elderly parishioners that come to our [Sunday] Mass,” she said.

Zielinga grew up in Indianapolis as a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish. For more than three decades, she has been a member of the more rural St. Rose Parish.

Having experiences of parish life in both the city and the country has helped her value the interconnectedness of all archdiocesan parishes and how the Called to Serve appeal gives Catholics the chance to support this relationship of faith across many generations of believers and throughout the 39 counties that make up the Church in central and southern Indiana.

“I’ve read things before where one generation plants trees and the other sits in the shade,” remarked Zielinga, who said she has “done everything and been in everything” at St. Rose Parish.

“I feel like we’re giving back now to the children that are coming through there now,” she said. “We’re just having fun giving back.”

(For more information, visit the Called to Serve Web site at www.archindy.org/uca.)†