In this issue... Fall 2012

=Communicating through Facebook =Dr. Rocco Martino Profile = Piloting Stewardship at St. Kevin

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Faith In Action

STEWARDSHIP ISGratitude in MinistryAn important challenge in the modern world is bal-

ancing our desire for progress with an appreciation of what we currently have. A contemporary song asks, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” In the Church, there is a certain affinity towards traditions of the past and gratitude for standing on the shoulders of giants.

In a parish, this tension reveals itself whenever we at-tempt to assess ourselves. Parishes often take time to assess their ministries and mission in order to better serve the People of God. Certainly, the intentions of the parish leaders are most always positive, and the results of these assessments are often quite fruitful. Perhaps a key leader has moved or died and left a group in need of a new purpose; sometimes changing demographics necessitates a staff or volunteer change. Yet often, what is being done today becomes overwhelmed by how we can do it better tomorrow. Ultimately, the second phrase cannot be accomplished effectively without an apprecia-tion for the first.

Take a few seconds right now to think about the good things happening in your parish. Every parish is

unique; each parish has particular strengths, just like each of us as individuals. We should be thankful for the gifts of these ministries and characteristics. Often we forget to be grateful for the blessings in our lives. Maybe the next time you are at Church, thank your priest for being a good hom-ilist (if he is one), or thank the Religious Education Direc-tor for his/her work.

Parish Leadership- Pastoral and Finance Councils- should take it upon themselves to be grateful on behalf of everyone who benefits from the ministries in the parish. This must be the starting point of all assessment, and all the work of the councils. Indeed, gratitude should be the basis of our lives as Christians. Gratitude, of course, is not the same as self-assurance. Being proud of our work as a parish does not mean that we can keep doing things the same way. Gratitude, if it is real, always calls forth from ourselves and other people a desire to do better. Perhaps fifty ministries are not necessary if twenty ministries work better. Grati-tude always calls us to move forward and leave an inheri-tence better than we received it. Continued on page 4

“And he who loves Jesus, the true vine, produces fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest.” -Pope Benedict XVI

A Word from Msgr. BeachDear friends in Christ,

The words of the psalmist remind us that “The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.” Each day, we must remind ourselves of this fact, because we all know how

much our world needs to be fed. The ministries of our Catholic Social Services feed the hungry and shelter the homeless in our community. The priests, deacons, and lay ministers who study at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary help feed our spiritual hunger through the Eucharist, teaching, and leadership.

In our time, the Lord continues to work through us, the People of God, to help advance His kingdom on earth. Stewardship is a way of life because it calls us to consider the many gifts which God has given us, and allows us to discern how best to use them for His greater honor and glory and in service to others. As we strive each day to feed those who are in need, perhaps we will be moved to make a gift to the Catholic Charities Appeal or the Saint Charles Seminary Annual Appeal.

I invite you to “come and see” the good things that are happening at the Seminary or through the Social Service ministries of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Our office can arrange a visit to a site of your choosing to learn more about the good news in Philadelphia. As we gather together for work, school, and recreation in this season, let us give thanks for all we are accomplishing with God’s grace.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Monsignor Francis W. BeachArchbishop’s Delegate and Executive DirectorThe Office for Stewardship and Development Contact The Office

Sarah O. HanleyDirector of StewardshipPhone: 215-587-5650Fax: 215-587-2442Email: shanley@adphila.orgTwitter: @phillystewards

SEND US YOUR NEWSDoes your parish have exciting Stewardship News? We want to share it. Send your updates and photos via email toshanley@adphila.org.

Did you know you can give to the Catholic Charities Appeal

all year long? www.catholiccharitiesappeal.org

P. 2

Msgr. Francis W. Beach

ICSC Region 3 Workshop

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia was honored to host the annual International Catholic Stewardship Coun-cil Region III workshop at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in July. Forty pastors, parish business managers,

and diocesan stewardship and development directors and key staff attended the event to share best fundraising practices and to glean effective outreach strategies for evangelization efforts.

Jim Friend, Secretary for Stewardship and Development at the Diocese of Allentown, highlighted various social media outlets and presented pertinent market data to demonstrate how the Church might best advance Her mission; Brian Walsh, founder and president of Faith Direct, Inc., portrayed the state of “eGiving” and provided approaches to successfully chal-lenge the adoption of eGiving as the preferred method of Stewardship; and Randy Hain, author of The Catholic Briefcase: Tools for Integrating Faith and Work and co-founder of the Integrated Catholic Life eMagazine, candidly discussed his conver-sion to the Catholic Church and offered pragmatic tools on how to prioritize our faith in our daily lives.

Attendees remarked how beneficial the presentations were in planning for future Stewardship initiatives as they “were full of updated, current trend information and concrete, useful ideas that have proven successful.” The Office for Stewardship and Development is most grateful to those who attended and especially to Jim Friend, Brian Walsh, and Randy Hain for sharing their time, talent, and expertise. The workshop was personally and professionally enriching and we look forward to meeting again next year at the Diocese of Allentown!

Life is Great: A Dr. Rocco Martino Profile

You may not know Dr. Rocco Martino, but chances are he has made an impact on your life. Dr. Martino’s many accomplishments include the creation of computer code and

computer languages, creating secure, real-time and disaster-tolerant networked systems, and most recently, inventing and patenting convergent computer and communications technolo-gies to form the “smart phone” that so many of us utilize today. He is the author of over twenty books and will soon release another in the spring on theology and science. Dr. Martino is also a passionate philanthropist who actively serves on numerous Catholic boards including the Stewards of St. John Neumann, and formerly, the Vatican Observatory and the Gregorian University in Rome (where almost half of the cardinals in the world have studied).

This native son of Toronto eventually found his way to Philadelphia where he met his wife, Barbara, and where the couple continues to reside today. His Catholic faith has always been an integral part of his life and it is the moral code that has guided him throughout his many years in business and service. When asked what impacted him to live a life of charity, he pointed to two specific memories from his childhood that made an impression on him and helped ignite his faith. As a child, his mother was very ill for several years from a difficult childbirth before passing away. For two years, she was in a hospital staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Given this was in the 1930’s, technology and medical standards were no where near the level of today. His mother needed constant and personal attention, and she received dedicated and selfless care from the sisters. They attended to his mother so diligently and gracefully and their work really made an impression on the young Dr. Martino.

After the tragic death of his mother, he and his father devotedly volunteered at the hospital by bringing movies to watch with the sick and terminal children. This was before the time of televisions, so the mutual effect it had on him and on the children was profound. This charitable action and many other events in his life led him to pursue philanthropic activities. He has given back in many ways, but two areas that hold a special place in his heart include education and assisting those who are disabled or sick and cannot help themselves.

One of the most touching moments he recalls was when he received a Christmas card from a physically disabled young per-son with whom he had spent some time with in working on a technology project. The card read, “Life is great, Merry Christ-mas!” The card took the person a few hours just to write those few words, but it touched Dr. Martino deeply. He has had a profound impact on many in the area. And because of him many more people can now say, “Life is Great.”

P. 3

Rocco Martino

P. 4

Sharing the Harvest: A look into the Montgomary County Family Service Center

“Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” No matter how often we hear these instructions from St. Francis, they always

seem to inspire us to be the hands of Christ in everyday life. Today, with the number of families struggling to make ends meet, the im-portance of putting the Gospel into action by providing “safety nets” has become paramount. One way the Church of Philadelphia seeks to prioritize living the Gospel has been to establish Family Service Centers around the region. Family Service Centers are the first point of contact for individuals, families, and parishes when they seek assistance from Catholic Social Services.

The Montgomery County Family Service Center, based in Norristown, provides seniors and families with various forms of assistance in the way of a well-stocked food pantry, the distribution of material goods, and family support and education classes.

The Center’s food pantry is one of the largest in a historically wealthy county. Despite its ostensible affluence, thousands of families struggle with hunger and food insecurity on a regular basis. 2,877 families received groceries from the Center in the first six months of 2012 and the Center continues to see a steady increase in demand.

Program Manager, Liz Peteraf, and the Center’s manifold volunteers from surrounding parishes preach the Gospel in their selfless action. Peteraf, who knows what it means to hunger, says, “As a child growing up in South Philadelphia, there was often a food scarcity problem in our home. That experience has made me dedicated to the idea that no one in need should want for groceries. Most people don’t want to see their neighbors go hungry.”

Ten other Centers are located throughout the five-county metropolitan area. Each provides assessment for individuals and families to assist them in accessing benefits and services. Emergency assistance may include rent or utility bill assistance, housing referrals, and case management. Other benefits include employment training, ESL classes, GED preparation, and job placement assistance. In these challenging times the Church, through her people, is very practically preaching the Gos-pel in word and deed.

Gratude in Minstrycontinued from p.1

If we remember to be thankful for the work we are doing, it will en-

able us to make necessary change by constantly striving to be better and to offer more effective ministries. It is only through the scope of gratitude that ministries can be effectively as-sessed and restructured to improve parish life.

Catholic Charites Appeal Wins ICSC Award!

The International Catholic Stew-ardship Council announced

that the 2012 Catholic Charties Appeal brochure, “Because I am Catholic,” has won first place in the Annual Appeal Brochure category for the 2012 ICSC Diocesan Stew-ardship Awards.

You can find a digital copy of the brochure on the Catholic Charities Appeal website, under the Publica-tions section.

Stewardship is: Communicating through Facebook

The conversation is happening, the only question is, “do you want to be a part of it?” The answer for all parishes should be, “yes.” This conversation is taking place across social media platforms, one of the most popular being the social

networking site Facebook. Parishes and pastors must adapt to culture and involve themselves in this conversation; other-wise, the voice of the Church will be lost. Here are several tips to help your parish in starting and utilizing a Facebook page properly:

P. 5

• You should first know that Facebook is not just communication but conversation, so you should expect and encourage dialogue. The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. If it is not something you will monitor and post on every day, then it might not be worth it for you. A dead page will make your par-ish seem lifeless, and thus be unattractive.

• When setting up a Facebook account for your parish, you want an “Official Page.” o Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages and click on Create Page. o You will want to choose an official page over a community page so your posts will be generated on your follower’s newsfeeds; this way they will get your news without even going to your page. o Facebook will guide you through the rest of the set-up process and the process to invite others to join the page and “like” it.

• Once you have 25 people who like your parish, you can set your Facebook URL at http://www.facebook.com/username. It may help to use the same name as your parish website. For example Holy Family Church is www.holyfamilyphilly.org so your Facebook page could be www.facebook.com/holyfamilyphilly. This helps make it easier to find your parish when there are multiple parishes with the same name elsewhere on Facebook.

• Make your default photo verticle and not horizontal; it will look more proportionate when viewed as a “thumbnail,” or miniture picture, that users will often see on Facebook.

• Go to “edit page” to see a preview of your page and set the security controls for the page. You probably want to allow the page to show all posts by users, as long as you will monitor the page with some frequency.

• You will use the status bar to share thoughts, links, and pose questions. You should try and post at least once a day. But don’t post just to post; make sure it is something your followers will find interesting.

• Use the photo page to post images for all of your parish events. You want to post them as soon as possible after each event, and you can even tag your parishioners in the photos, which will draw more people to your page.

• Use the discussion page to generate conversation about events, current themes and topics, or Scripture.

• For community wide events, you might even want to consider purchasing a Facebook ad which will be targeted only to people in your area, and will reach them whether they belong to your parish page or not.

For any questions or assistance, please feel free to contact Mike Wixted in the Office for Stewardship and Development at 215-587-5650 or mwixted@adphila.org

The next article will focus on Twitter and how your parish can best utilize the social network to connect with your parish com-munity and the community at large.

P. 6

Deepening the Faith, Together in ServiceThe 2012-2013 St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Annual Appeal

It is time to rediscover, or discover for the first time, this place of learning and conversion.

St. Charles Seminary is truly a jewel in the crown of our faith community. It is home to programs that are vital to the life our many parishes, schools, and other mission organizations. The Seminary gives men and women a voice to speak to the world in order to defend and spread our shared faith.

This year, the Seminary welcomes 139 seminarians, 100 Deacon Candidates, and 300 students to our Graduate School of Theology. They need our support.

Make your pledge online today at www.stcharlesseminaryappeal.orgor call 215-587-5650

Did you know:

• The Seminary is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and by the Association of Theo-logical Schools of the United States and Canada.

• The Seminary provides a unified undergraduate and graduate theology program of formation for the priesthood.

• The Permanent Diaconate program was started in 1971 and currently has more than 100 men in formation and more than 250 ordained deacons in active service.

• The Graduate School of Theology is the fourth largest program of its kind in the United States. It offers Master of Arts degrees as well as certifications in religious education, Christian initiation, and ethnic ministry.

• The Catechetical Institute prepares highly trained elementary school and PREP program teachers.

Piloting Stewardship at St. Kevin

The Office for Stewardship and Development (OSD) has developed and piloted an innovative Six Week Stew-

ardship Strategy to introduce or highlight Stewardship in a parish by establishing a step-by-step process to engage

the parish community. This is accomplished by painting a realistic picture of the current state of the parish, both present challenges and present opportunities. This six-week process involves direct mail coupled with pulpit and bul-letin announcements, a targeted homily that examines and manifests a detailed depiction of the parish from a demo-graphic, pastoral, and financial perspective, and follow-up personalized events to reinforce the strategy. The program requires key people who are knowledgeable and commit-ted to introducing or reinforcing Stewardship in the parish. These people include the Pastor, Committee Members, and OSD Counsel. OSD Counsel and the Pastor collaborate to create an individualized program based upon the parish needs. Together they will craft a clear understanding of the goals and desired outcomes for the parish.

St. Kevin’s parish in Springfield modeled the Six Week Stewardship Strategy in May to tremendous success. Father John Moloney addressed the parish on May 20 and plainly and openly informed them of the difficulties and opportuni-ties for growth St. Kevin’s currently faces. Father Moloney’s homily emphasized the significance of continuous growth. He challenged his parishioners to reflect upon ways in which they might do even more for the parish in order to strength-en the St. Kevin Family, “to use our gifts and our talents to bring about a better and stronger St. Kevin’s to our com-munity.” Following the sermon, St. Kevin’s saw a significant increase in their weekly offertory. “This is a great oppor-

P. 7

A Priest of Hospitality

One of the core tenets of Stewardship is hospitality. Fr. Dominic Ishaq

embodies hospitality. As a priest hailing from Pakistan, Fr. Dominic integrates into his ministry the subtle art of caring for people, either as a priest in residence at St. William in Philadelphia, or in his cultural ministry as the coordinator of the Paki-stani Apostolate and as an Apostleship of the Sea chaplain serving sailors arriving in Philadelphia’s ports.

Few know there are 27 ship yards in Philadelphia receiving goods from all over the world. More importantly, these ports welcome countless seafarers. These hard working and weary mariners are in need of ministers. Fr. Dominic, the only Catholic priest serving them, eats, talks, and prays with them, hears their confessions, and celebrates the Eucharist.

Hospitality is more than a concept, it is an act of faith. When he meets with people as a priest, he leads with com-passionate hospitality. Spending fifteen minutes prepar-ing coffee or making an omlette (with Pakistani flair) is actually time well-spent rather than jumping right into a meeting’s agenda. Such time and consideration authenti-cally conveys to a person that they are valued and that their physical needs or wants are important.

By practicing the hospitality of Christ – in the manner that Christ provided it – Fr. Dominic provides for us yet another example of faith in action.

Fr. John MoloneyPastor of St. Kevin Parish

tunity for each parish to continue to look at itself, to be honest, to work with one another and continue to spread the Gospel” said Father Moloney Given the remarkable feedback and reception, the Office for Stewardship and Development have since partnered with five other parishes to implement tailored Six Week Stewardship Strategies.

If you have questions about the Strategy or want assistance in launching the program in your parish, please contact Sarah O. Hanley, Director of Stewardship, at 215-587-5650 or shanley@adphila.org.

The Heritage of Faith – Vision of Hope Capital Campaign, currently in its re-demption phase, remains a collaborative effort to sustain the mission and

programs of the Church of Philadelphia and its local parishes. Thirty-five percent of all payments made by parishioners go back to their parish for its own needs as detailed in the original case statement. One parish, St. Matthew Parish in Con-shohocken, has so far received payments of over $169,000 for this effort and thus almost $60,000 for their own local needs.

With their share, Father Thomas Heron, pastor of St. Matthew, has overseen the completion of two projects key to the enhancement of the Gothic design and archi-tecture. The first was the repair of their magnificent stained glass windows origi-nally created, in part, by Willet Stained Glass Studios. The second project involved the renovation of the sanctuary marble rail and floors. Craftsman John Trinh, mas-terful in this type of work, restored the pristine beauty of the white and Tennessee marble as well as the terrazzo floors. The meticulously detailed work has created a beautiful and clean space to give honor and worship of our Lord. The generosity of the faithful from all the Church’s parishes throughout the Archdiocese has made such projects possible.

P. 8

Generosity in Action

Archdiocese of PhiladelphiaCatholic Life Congress

Saturday, November 17, 20129:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel

CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARISTCATHEDRAL BASILICA OF SS. PETER AND PAULARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. CHAPUT, O.F.M. CAP.

Focusing on the theme, “Baptized in Christ: Live in the Joy of Believing”, which comes from Pope Benedict XVI’s invitation to participate in a Year of Faith,

the Congress is an opportunity to learn from one another, listen to insightful and engaging speakers and participate in the Eucharist.

The Congress is for everyone – every Catholic in the Archdiocese can benefit from learning, praying and celebrating our Catholic Faith together on

November 17, 2012. Catholic Life Congress is a great way to begin the Year of Faith!

For more information, contact your parish office or call 215-587-0500. Brochure and on-line registration available at

www.phillycongress.org

KEYNOTE ADDRESSDR. JOHNATHAN REYES

PRESENTACIÓN PRINCIPALARCHBISHOP JOSÉ GOMEZ

Stained glass window at St. Matthew

The Sactuary at St. Matthew