| Stewardship of Treasure:
Financial commitment to our parish & the needy
We have been blessed with a material abundance
that makes even the less affluent among us rich in comparison
to the rest of the world. The Lord seeks our generosity not
just from our abundance, but even from our substance. The
biblical tradition of tithin is still a proposed goal. It
is suggested that 10% of our income be directed to the needs
of others. Five percent given to the Church and five percent
distributed to other worthwhile charities seem a reasonable
balance. Of course, not everyone can achieve this goal. But
we ask all to acknowledge their responsibility for sustaining
the works of pastoral care carried on by the Church and to
contribute at a level that represents a truly sacrificial
offering.
Parish members are encouraged to use contribution
envelopes or through a new program for 2007, Faith Direct,
which make our administrative tasks easier.
Sunday Collection
The Sunday collection is important to the
life of the parish. It primarily suppports the maintenance,
upgrade, & running of the parish and all its activities.
From this amount, the parish makes donations in the name of
our community to organizations that serve the needy in our
community and worldwide.
Second Collections
in 2007
| 14 Jan |
National collection for Black & Indian
Missions (formerly US Missions): for evangelizing the
Black and Indian peoples of the United States. The funds
are distributed as grants to dioceses throughout the United
States, supporting and strengthening evangelization programs
which otherwise would cease. |
| 11 Mar |
Aid to Church in Central & Eastern Europe: to meet
the needs of rebuilding the Church--training seminarians
and lay leaders, reaching out to young people, reviving
Catholic charities, and renewing programs of catechesis
and evangelization |
| 6 Apr |
Holy Land: for support of the sacred places, educational
and charitable insititutions in the Holy Land. Funds educate
young men for the Missions of the Custody of the Holy
Land in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Rhodes, Israel,
and Egypt. |
| 29 Apr |
Catholic Home Missions Appeal (strengthening the Church
at home):to strengthen the Catholic Church where it is
weak in the United States and its territories where resources
are thin and priests are few. Grantees include about 85
Latin and Eastern Catholic dioceses in Appalachia, the
South, the Southwest, the Rocky Mountain states, Alaska,
and the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean. The Appeal
also supports about 25 organizations and religious communities
engaged in home mission work. |
| 20 May |
Catholic Overseas Relief: to fund Catholic Relief Services,
USCC Department of Social Development and World Peace,
relief work of the Holy Father, and USCC's Migration and
Refugee Services |
| 1 July |
Peter's Pence (collection for the Holy Father) :for
the Holy Father to respond to requests to aid the most
needy throughout the world–those who suffer as a
result of war, oppression, and natural disasters. |
| 22 July |
Church in Latin America: for projects at the continental,
regional, diocesan and local levels, and include the work
of evangelization, formation of laity, religious and seminarians,
as well as youth ministry and catechesis. |
| 19 Aug |
Catholic Communications Campaign: to contribute to the
process of evangelization by fostering activities in relation
to television, radio and other media, and through special
projects of the Catholic press. |
| 2 Sept |
Catholic University: for academic scholarships at The
Catholic University of America in Washington, DC |
| 30 Sept |
Church in Africa |
| 21 Oct |
Propagation of the Faith (World Mission Sunday): for
our common responsibility with regard to the evangelization
of the world. |
| 18 Nov |
Catholic Campaign for Human Development: mandated by
the U.S. bishops for addressing "the root causes
of poverty in America through promotion and support of
community-controlled, self-help organizations and transformative
education." |
| 9 Dec |
Retirement Fund for Religious:for both basic, supplemental
and special assistance retirement grants to religious
institutes |
The above descriptions are taken from
the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' website.
Cardinal's Appeal
The Cardinal's Appeal is an Archdiocesan-wide
campaign to help our poor and underprivileged. Your gift will
directly benefit: Catholic Education programs & scholarships;
Catholic Charities & other social service programs; Youth
& Young Adult programs; Special missions & ministries;
Aid to ill and elderly priests; Assistance to parishes &
schools with special needs; Pregnancy Aid Centers and Pro-Life
activities; College, hospital, and prison chaplaincy programs;
Parish & Family Life programs; Start-up of new parishes
& schools.
For 2003, St Raphael Church has 33% of families
participating in the Appeal (goal is 46%) and pledges of $286,388
as of 4/11/03 (goal is $349,116).
Contact: Cardinal's Appeal, Archdiocese of
Washington, P O Box 98076, Washington DC 20090-8076.
Operation Rice
Bowl
In the Lenten spirit of almsgiving, we promote
the concept of assisting the poor in other countries, as embodied
by the work of Catholic Relief Services. Participating groups
save money in their "rice bowl," a cardboard box
or envelope, that is then collected before Holy Thursday.
On that day, the collection is ritually brought up as part
of the gifts during the Offertory.
Gifts (wills, stocks,
etc.)
Another way for parishioners to support their
parish is to include St Raphael Church among the beneficiaries
of their wills.
Donations of stocks are also welcome. Please
contact Lora Schoen at 301-762-2143 x115.
Automatic giving
through Faith Direct
Our parish has a new and exciting way for
you to support our parish offertory and second collections--Faith
Direct. This program will enable you to support our parish
and second collections through direct debit deductions.
With Faith Direct, St. Raphael’s will
gain predictable cash flow that will help us with planning
our parish needs and programs. Faith Direct also offers you
personalized offertory cards to replace your envelopes to
place in the basket.
We find Faith Direct a “win-win”
for both parishioners and our parish. Please enroll in this
program today by responding to the mailings you will receive,
or visit www.FaithDirect.net
to enroll securely on line. Our parish code is MD34.
Online giving
through purchases
You could designate "St Raphael Church"
as the beneficiary of a percent of your purchases when made
through IGive.com or St Raphael Nursery School through eScrip.com.
There is no fee and the purchase price is the same as when
you order directly from the merchant's website. You can order
from more than 400 merchants that will donate part of their
receipts to your designated charity, hopefully that is St
Raphael Church. Participating stores include Borders, Barnes
& Noble, CVS, Amazon.com, Lands End, Gap, L L Bean, Dell,
Ebay, proFlowers, Drugstore.com, etc.
Clicking on a logo below will take you out
of the parish website.
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