Mission & Ministry
October 2019
Why We Give to CSA
By Sharon and Dan Conway

We have been contributing to the Catholic Services Appeal (CSA) since we moved to Louisville and became members of Holy Trinity Parish in 1983. That’s 36 years of giving to our Archdiocese’s annual appeal.

Recently we were asked to write about our reasons for giving to CSA. There’s a one-word answer we can give—stewardship—to be followed by a slightly longer (but still short) answer.

As Christian stewards, we have a responsibility to care for all the gifts (spiritual and material) we have received from God and to share these gifts generously with others. CSA is one important way that we exercise our stewardship responsibility.

Reflecting on the past 36 years, several things come to mind. First of all, our family has been abundantly blessed by God. We have been given the gift of life (5 children and one granddaughter). We have relatively good health. We have all the material things we need to live comfortably and securely. We have family and friends who support us when times are tough, and we belong to a parish community and an Archdiocese that meet our spiritual needs and that inspire (and challenge) us to lead better Christian lives. It’s only right that we “give back with increase” a small portion of God’s many blessings.

The Catholic Services Appeal is not just a fundraiser—a program designed to raise money for a worthy cause. As we see it, CSA is an invitation to participate directly in the mission and ministries of our Archdiocese. This is not something we do reluctantly, out of a sense of obligation. It’s a privilege to help support more than 100 ministries ranging from the very practical (serving human needs and fostering justice) to the intellectual (witnessing and sharing our faith, lifelong formation and education) to the deeply spiritual (promoting holiness and worshiping God in Word and Sacrament). These are ministries we couldn’t possibly engage in by ourselves, but... Read More
Silence
Full, conscious, and active participation in the Mass is about interior as well as exterior involvement. The instructions for Mass call for silence at several places. But silence is not merely empty space. It requires being fully present and making room for God. In the words of Pope Francis, “Silence is not reduced to the absence of words, but is the availability to listen to other voices: that of our heart and, above all, the voice of the Holy Spirit.” In the silence, we participate by reflecting or by calling something to mind. For example, in the silence designated in the Penitential Act, we think of our failings, both individual and communal. After each reading from sacred scripture, a period of silence allows us to reflect on what we’ve heard and think about how we might respond in our lives. After Communion, we silently offer praise and thanks to God.
This video is fifth in a new series,   Work of the People: The Catholic Mass. For more information about this series on the role of the assembly in the Mass, go here. Resources on this page also include suggestions for how parishes can use the resource.
As we celebrate Respect Life Month in October, we reflect upon the fundamental invitation to help build a culture of life.
How to Build a Culture of Life
(This article has been edited. For the full article, click here .)
The Problem
Watching the news and reading the headlines, we may feel helpless seeing the heartbreaking lack of respect for human life. How do we respond when our efforts seem small in the face of the culture of death?

Our Christian Identity
To understand more fully how to defend and protect human life, we must first consider who we are, at the deepest level. God creates us in his image and likeness, which means we are made to be in loving relationship with him. The essence of our identity and worth, the source of our dignity, is that we are loved by God: “ We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures ; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.” [1]

Embracing a relationship with God means following in his footsteps, wherever he may call. Just as Jesus invited St. Peter and St. Andrew to become his disciples, he invites us to do the same: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
Being a disciple of Jesus naturally includes sharing the Gospel with others and inviting them into a deeper relationship with God. This doesn’t necessarily mean quitting our jobs or moving to foreign countries. For most of us, our mission field is daily life: “Christ teaches us how to evangelize, how to invite people into communion with him, and how to create a culture of witness: namely, through love. A Christian life lived with charity and faith is the most effective form of evangelization.” [2]

The first step towards living this life is allowing Jesus to meet and transform us daily.

Identity Crisis
As a society and as individuals, we often measure ourselves by false standards: by what and how much we do, our successes or failures, how others treat us, the degree of our pleasure or independence, etc. But God’s love—individual, real, unchanging—is the true source of our worth, identity, and dignity. It really... Read More
Archbishop's Tweets
Follow  @ArchbishopKurtz on Twitter for more of his tweets.

October 4
@ArchbishopKurtz:
Ric, May your dear mother rest in the peace of Christ. I will offer mass tomorrow morning for the faithful repose of her soul and for the consolation and renewed faith in the resurrection of Jesus, our source of hope, for you and all your family members.

October 1
@ArchbishopKurtz:
See how donations to the Catholic Services Appeal impact lives in @ArchLouKY here . Give today here .

September 17
@ArchbishopKurtz:
See my blog for an update on my medical treatment and my eagerness to return home:
Upcoming Events
Resources & Recommendations
This month, we're highlighting some helpful and timely resources for Catholics throughout the Archdiocese. We encourage you to check out the resources below and get involved.

Respect Life Month
October is Respect Life Month, which is a year-round, nationwide effort to help Catholics understand, value, and become engaged with building a culture that cherishes every human life. Although sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Respect Life Program is essentially comprised of the efforts of leaders throughout the Church like you—parish priests, staff, and volunteers; teachers and school administrators; diocesan leaders; and so many others. For resources and ideas, please go here . For a listing of some Respect Life events being sponsored by the Archdiocese and parishes, visit this page .

Catholic Services Appeal
This month launches the annual Catholic Services Appeal, which invites Catholics throughout Central Kentucky to support the mission and ministries of the Archdiocese of Louisville. To give online, go here . Your support is essential and appreciated! Questions? Call or email Melody Denson, Director of Mission Advancement, at mdenson@archlou.org or 502/585-3291.

Conversations with Archbishop Kurtz
While Archbishop is away for cancer treatment, we will be sharing the Best of Conversations with Archbishop Kurtz , by pulling together compelling segments from the past organized around topical themes. October’s topic is the Archdiocese and features the new Catholic Services Appeal video, a discussion about the Archdiocese and its relationship with parishes, and the top ten news stories from 2018.

Conversations airs on the Faith Channel (Spectrum channels 19 and digital channel 279) on Tues. at 7 p.m., Wed. at 10 a.m., Fri. at 7 p.m., and Sat. at 4 p.m. It is on radio stations WLCR 1040 AM, Breadbox Media, and WLHN 95.3 FM in Meade County. In addition, Conversations can be downloaded for no charge through iTunes. Conversations also is available on Bardstown Cable Channel 19 (BRTV) at 7 p.m. on the first two Monday nights of the month and on Bardstown’s PLG TV on Tuesday afternoons at 4 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Conversations is online here .
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