A Message from Father Henry
Fellow St Jude Parishioners:
 
For those of you who have already pledged to the Annual Catholic Appeal, my heartfelt thanks. Your generosity supports the wonderful ministries of the Appeal. 
 
For those of you who have not yet pledged, I ask you to prayerfully consider the donating of your treasure to the Annual Catholic Appeal sometime over the next few days. 
 
First let me express how so very appreciative I am for the ways in which you have repeatedly and continuously stepped up to offer your gifts of time, talent and treasure to both our local church of St Jude Parish, as well as to the greater church which is our Diocese of Bridgeport, serving Fairfield County. 
 
Many of you have given countless hours of your volunteer time, which has made so many of our parish groups and ministries vibrant. Many of you have given of your unique talents for the betterment of our parish.
 
Since I have become your pastor, I have seen how so many of you have given of your treasure to our Parish Moving Forward Campaign, the previous Annual Catholic Appeals, the most recent We Stand With Christ Campaign, as well as continuously supporting the ongoing operational expenses of our parish. 
 
Now, I come to you again, asking those of you who have not yet given to the Appeal to please do so over the next few days. 
 
As your pastor, I am scheduled to speak briefly at the end of every mass about the appeal during the months of April and May and September and into the autumn months. 
 
However, if each of us who have not yet pledged would be willing to so graciously pledge over the next few days, then I will only come back to you one more time in mid-to-late April for a final ask. 
 
So, I ask that each of you, who have not yet pledged, consider making a gift or pledge, any amount will help. A pledge of $20 or $10 per month for 10 months would add up to $200 or $100 this year! Every contribution will add to our first $84,600 supporting charitable works throughout Fairfield County. Each dollar that you give over $84,600 will be split evenly between supporting Fr Skip’s efforts at Blessed Sacrament and our own youth and adult faith formation here at St Jude. 
 
If we all come together to collectively raise that total, then we can quietly and confidently put our efforts to support the Appeal to rest sometime in April, knowing that we have generously come together as a parish family in support of the church’s efforts throughout Fairfield County, at Blessed Sacrament Parish, and here at home at St Jude Parish. 
 
Again, the first $84,600 that we are to raise goes toward the charitable works of the church throughout Fairfield County. Then for every dollar above $84,600, fifty cents goes to Fr Skip’s Blessed Sacrament parish, and fifty cents stays here at St Jude Parish.
 
 
 
Sincerely yours in Christ, 
Fr Henry 
 
A Call to Action from Bishop Caggiano
To All St. Jude Parishioners,

On behalf of the Annual Catholic Appeal and of St. Jude Church, Norma and I want to say thank you for bringing us this far in our drive to exceed our ACA goal.

As of March 18, we have received pledges totaling $65,370. And we did it with less than 150 pledges. This is remarkable. But we cannot stop now. We are only 77.3% of the way to our goal of $84,600. 

Each of you please be assured that your pledge is a clear expression of your “loving thy neighbor”. With your help, the immediate needs of the diocesan charitable works will be supported, our schools will be strengthened, our youth programs will be funded and the needs of our retired clergy, our priests, seminarians, and deacons will be addressed. Groups, like Catholic Relief Services, have been heavily impacted this past year, your pledges will help them address our neighbors’ needs by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and caring for those struggling with developmental and physical issues. 

We encourage those who have not yet pledged to prayerfully consider contributing to the 2021 Annual Catholic Appeal. Your pledge will help those noted above and carry us to, and hopefully beyond, our goal so that you can directly help St. Jude Youth ministry and Blessed Sacrament Parish. Please listen to Father Skip’s video so that you may see what your pledges can do.
Remember no pledge amount is too small. Just imagine 300 more donations of $120 each ($12 per month for 10 months) carries us to over $100,000. 
But no amount is too small.

God Bless You,
Norma and Doug Bissell
A message from Fr. Skip of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Bridgeport, CT.
l to r: Richard Lane, Parish Council; Doug & Norma Bissell, Co-chairs ACA
Fr. Henry Hoffman, Pastor; Joe Gallagher, Diocese of Bridgeport
The Appeal enables Catholic Charities to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable and needy people across Fairfield County through 30+ programs that:

Nourish the Hungry
Catholic Charities served over 1.2 million meals since the pandemic began via its soup kitchens, food pantries, the Meals on Wheels program for homebound elderly, and for the families of the Room to Grow Pre-school.

Shelter the Homeless
  • Established an Advisory Council for Bethlehem House in Stratford to move forward expanding transitional housing for formerly homeless families.
  • Caseworkers helped over 60 homeless individuals move off the streets and into safe housing.

Strengthen Families and Individuals
  • Catholic Charities quickly pivoted its Mental Health Counseling services during the pandemic to provide telehealth counseling to clients suffering from anxiety and depression due to the pandemic.
  • Room to Grow Preschool in Norwalk opened its own food pantry, enabling them to feed the families that attend the Center throughout the pandemic. They are working class families, many who either lost jobs or had their income reduce due to the effects of the pandemic.
  • Immigrant families are assisted with immigration consultations and were helped during the the health crisis, many suffered significant job losses and struggled to make ends meet.

Your gifts to the Appeal also helped make it possible to:
  • Award financial scholarships to 85% of students in the Catholic Academy of Bridgeport;
  • •Award financial assistance for Catholic education through the Bishop’s Scholarship Fund;
  • Ensure that children and young adults had the opportunity to participate in religious education programs;
  • Educate and train 24 men for ordination to priesthood in our Diocese;
  • Educate and train 8 men for ordination to the Permanent Diaconate program;
  • Care for 74 senior priests in their dignified retirement;
  • Afford our youth with meaningful opportunities to mature as holy and active members of society through a wide range of faith-based programs;
  • Respond to spiritual, educational and social needs of persons with disabilities through the St. Catherine Center for Special Needs.
St Jude Parish
707 Monroe Tpke
Monroe, CT 06468
203-261-6404