You recently received a summons to support our Saint Charles Revitaliza!on Campaign. As a lead giver or first responder, you offer yourself as living stones to reinvigorate and rebuild our community around the cornerstone of Christ, the chief architect of our mission and the foreman of our endeavors.
People ask me (some version of) the ques!on: “Do you really think St. Charles can turn it around, grow the school, revive the spirit?” I respond by saying, “It’s up to the people.” Like all things of success, we, the people, need passion, hunger, and scriptural urgency; but we will fail if we are complacent, passive, or apathe!c. It’s up to us: our desire for victory, our willingness to work, our drive to collaborate, our capacity to spread the word, our response to this campaign.
Similar to the bible story in Nehemiah in which all the people—men, women, and children—laid bricks to rebuild the holy city, so will it take each of us to lend a hand in rebuilding our community. I would not ask you to give if I, myself, did not. With an annual salary around $30,000, I will offer my biblically-ordained !the (10% or $3,000 per year) for the three-year campaign; if I can give more at the end, I will. The Bible mandates that we give propor!onately: those who have more should give more. We have a powerful example in the donors of the matching incen!ve gi&—a contribu!on up to $500,000 if we do our part. Our campaign goal of $1.2 million may seem steep, but we can reach it if everyone par!cipates. Your pledge response in this season of giving will indicate what kind of success lies on the horizon for us.
We hope to match the first $100,000 this week so that we can replace the church roof before the end of the month—the adjoining roofs can wait !ll spring. We hope to receive the second $100,000 match in pledges by Christmas so that we are poised to replace the school windows at the end of next semester. And we hope to have pictorial renderings of the expanded ves!bule with elevator and parish office in the weeks ahead so that we’ll be well on our way to accomplishing our goal.
But it’s not just a financial gi& that Sacred Scripture asks of us; it calls for a rejuvenated way of doing things in the unfolding of each genera!on. If we do things in the same or similar ways we have in the past, we can expect the same or similar results in the future. So we need to set our sights beyond what is conven!onal or standard, especially with our school that has drawn much a*en!on to our current circumstance. What happens there in the next couple of years will be indica!ve of what will happen to our parish.
Our School’s Sustainability Team, with the blessing of diocesan leaders, is proposing a unique and exci!ng model for educa!on that will dis!nguish us. As technological advances dictate STEM learning (science, technology, engineering, and mathema!cs) in every school, we want to secure that our students are well-rounded in other disciplines, too, including the classics. We want our students to not be inward-looking but to engage in the world, or as Pope Francis challenges us, to embrace a culture of encounter. We want to develop their leadership and social skills, and enhance emo!onal IQs. We want students to reverence American and Church history in literature, music, and art, especially through the sacrifices of heroes and saints. We want them to problem-solve, value service learning opportuni!es, become familiar with government systems, think cri!cally, and effect posi!ve change in society. We want them to be more than extensions of their technology gadgets; and we want them to follow a spiritual path and moral code that gets them to heaven. Most of all, we want them to turn to Jesus as their primary teacher in all things and as their constant companion along life’s journey.
Why give generously to our Saint Charles Revitaliza!on Campaign? For them—for the next genera!on of Catholics. In honor of those who’ve gone before us, let us leave them a living legacy.
~ Father Don Farnan