Showing Compassion to Strangers in Need

Posted by Sr. Marjorie Hebert, MSC  | January 2017 |

Dear Friends of Catholic Charities,

Thank you for your outpouring of generosity over the holiday season. Your gifts of prayer, time and treasure have positioned Catholic Charities and all those it serves to begin the New Year strong. Thank you for taking to heart the challenge to see the face of Jesus in every person, familiar and strange. Like the homeless young mother and foster parent to whom our Savior was born, you have shown compassion to strangers in need.

The holy days of Advent season and the excitement of the New Year bring a renewed sense of faith or strengthening of convictions to many, and rightly so. The miracle of our Lord incarnate brought here to show us how to be human should prompt us all to take time to reflect. Many of us make New Year’s resolutions to work on ourselves internally. This is a great place to start as we should not only be able to see the face of Jesus in others, but in ourselves. When we show compassion to others, we become more like Christ.

Following the feast of the Epiphany, we return to Ordinary Time on the liturgical calendar. We return to the daily grind of waking up in the morning, working our jobs, caring for our families and going to sleep at night. As we become consumed with our daily routines and our own personal struggles, I challenge you not to forget the spirit of Christmas and those resolutions you made during the excitement of the New Year.

“We have become partners of Christ, if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.” – Hebrews 3:14

We must hold these resolutions firmly until the end. We must remember to be more like Jesus in all our actions throughout the entire year, not just the holiday season. We here at Catholic Charities are in the stages of finalizing our five-year strategic plan. These can be seen as a set of resolutions to guide us in our decision making and actions. As always, you are part of this plan. Catholic Charities counts on our support to enable us to follow Christ’s command to go out and do good work.

Thank you for your support and Happy New Year to you and your families.

Sr. Marjorie SnowballsGod bless you,

Sr. Marjorie Signature
Sr. Marjorie Hebert, MSC
President/CEO