Bishop encourages support of DAA

September 4, 2003

Dear Friends in Christ,

Earlier this year the Holy Father published an encyclical on The Eucharist and its Relationship to the church. It is at once both a great theological document and a very personal reflection on the Eucharist. Pope John Paul II wrote it to begin the celebrations for his 25th Anniversary of election as pope.

In one section of the letter, the Holy Father writes that the Eucharist spurs us on in our journey of faith through history and plants a living seed of hope in our daily commitment to the work before us. The Eucharist is celebrated "until the Lord Jesus comes in glory," and thus looks forward to a new heaven and a new earth. But this increases our sense of responsibility for the world and the Church today. No community celebrates the Eucharist isolated and alone, but always in communion with angels, saints and faithful Christians of the past, and with every Catholic community of the present, especially in communion with the pope and the local bishop. The Eucharist makes Christians feel more forcefully the task of contributing the light of the Gospel to the tasks of the local church and to the world around them. The Eucharist helps us to overcome our indifference to the poor, the needy and the distressed, to those in need of catechesis, to those who help form us in the faith.

The Pope's words are significant for they help us to see that we are not isolated individuals in Christ, or only a local parish in Christ. We belong as well to a universal communion in Christ and to a local diocese.

For the past 28 years, the Diocese of Sioux City has conducted a financial drive, the Diocesan Annual Appeal (DAA) to realize funds for various projects that operate on a diocesan level. The projects are part of the practical way in which we make the supreme gift of the Eucharist and communion in it very real and tangible in the world in which we live.

Love is demanding. We need to bring assistance to troubled individuals and families through the various centers of help in our diocese run by Catholic Charities. A number of initiatives of formation with our youth and young adults take place through our diocesan Youth Ministry Office. Our Adult and Family Ministries Office provides a large number of enrichment courses and opportunities of formation for our adult members. Our Religious Education Office and Catholic Schools' Office give large amounts of time and programs for catechesis and education for our children and young people. Other central offices in the Diocese help with the administrative and insurance concerns of our 124 parishes.

The Diocesan Annual Appeal provides a way of stewardship in common for us all in this local church to be friends of Christ Jesus and witnesses of his love. Surely that love is witnessed at its most concrete level in the parish; but there are some aspects of this love and commitment that demand we act in consort as a diocese.

When you respond generously to the DAA, you are making a genuine practical difference and acting as a witness to the Lord on our common journey. I do encourage more of the faithful in our diocese to take part in this annual act of stewardship and solidarity.

You will soon be receiving a Diocesan Annual Appeal mailing. I hope that you will take some time to read it and then consider a generous donation to benefit this local church of Sioux City. Once you have reached your decision, kindly place your DAA envelope with the enclosed pledge and/or check in your parish collection.

I am grateful to all in the diocese for the generous assistance to DAA these past 28 years. I pray that the ongoing celebration of the Eucharist in our parishes will be both personal blessing and a communal invitation to go out and witness to the love and power we receive in the Eucharist. May we prove to be good stewards of the Gift given!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

†Most Rev. Daniel N. DiNardo
Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City