Message from Cardinal George

2012 ANNUAL CATHOLIC APPEAL
Be Imitators of Christ!

Any funds raised are carefully spent; it is money for God’s work and we use it accordingly. Your contributions are deeply appreciated, very much needed and make a real difference in the lives of many.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In Saint Paul’s First letter to the Corinthians he calls the people of Corinth, who were very ordinary people like you and me, to live extraordinary lives.  He tells them to be imitators of Christ as he is. St. Paul makes the same appeal to us: be imitators of Christ.

Paul gave this instruction to Christians who were often at odds with one another and with others as well.  Paul told them to love anyway, because God loved them and had reconciled them in Christ.  Now they were to imitate Christ by being reconcilers in turn.

St. Paul tells us that we continue the mission of Jesus Christ in the world.  We do so personally and we do so together in the Body of Christ, his Church.  This is the great mystery of our vocation, our calling in Christ, to be his presence in the world; and so—as the title of our archdiocesan pastoral plan tells us—to reflect the light of Christ himself.

In Mark’s gospel, 1:40-45, he details the mission of Jesus to be continued today.  Jesus heals a leper. In this simple but profound encounter between an ailing person and Jesus, we see the Lord’s mission among us.  He is the generous and healing presence of God in this world. His generosity knows no bounds.  No one is beyond his reach, even the most marginalized—as lepers were in the time of Jesus.  No one is beyond his mercy, even the greatest sinners.  No one is beyond the light of his teaching, even those most opposed to him.  Jesus creates a new community, recruiting the healthy and the sick, saints and sinners.  This new community is to introduce the world to its savior by imitating him day after day, year after year until he returns in glory.

In this world, we find everything measured out and carefully rationed.  We live in a strict and unforgiving economy that gives so much and only so much for the dollar.  In the mission and ministry of Jesus, it is otherwise.  His presence among us is sheer generosity, sheer gift.

We are told: “Be imitators of Christ.”  Extend his mission in the world. Be his generous, healing, and compassionate presence.  More specifically, share his generosity with other people, beginning with your family and then in the workplace and in your community.  Be generous as was Christ in a truly spiritual way by praying for others and treating them generously, even our enemies.

Imitate the generosity of Jesus also in a material way.  Care for the poor as he cared for the poor.  Even more specifically, I ask you to be generous in your support of the Annual Catholic Appeal.  The Appeal enables us to imitate Christ and extend his mission in our world and to do this together as his body.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Annual Catholic Appeal sustains Catholic schools and parishes, programs of religious education and ministerial formation, and initiatives to foster respect for life and to make the world more just, peaceful, and loving.  In this year dedicated in our Archdiocesan pastoral plan to teens and young adults, the Annual Catholic Appeal supports efforts to pass on the treasures of faith to a new generation of believers.  Beyond the Archdiocese, the Appeal serves people in need worldwide, through Catholic Relief Services, without regard for religious affiliation, when their lives are devastated by illness, wars and famines and by natural disasters.  Every element of our mission, every one of our efforts reflects our service as imitators of Christ.

When you celebrate the Holy Eucharist you experience the absolute generous and compassionate presence of Jesus: this is my Body given up for you, this is my Blood poured out for you.  Here we learn who Christ is.  Here we learn his mission.  And here we learn to imitate his generosity.

Please join me in making a generous gift to the Annual Catholic Appeal.  Your faith and your generosity inspire me.  I am grateful for your witness.  I thank God for you and I pray to God for you.  Please pray for me as well.

I thank you for your willingness to be a part of this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal.  May God bless you and your loved ones.

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago