CFSA 2008

General Information

• What Should I Share?
• CFSA Q&A
• How is your parish goal set
• CFSA Parish Results and
  Budget Allocations

Parish Resources

• Weekend Checklist
• Timeline
• Preparing for Success
• Sample Letters
• Liturgy Aids
• Clip Art
• Telephone Follow-up
• Processing Pledge Cards & Transmittal Forms
• CFSA Supplies Request Form

Audio Message from Bishop Paul Swain

This is Bishop Paul Swain. Thank you for your faithful witness and for your patience in listening to me by way of this recording. 

A wise priest recently said to me, Bishop, the only time most of the people hear from you is when you are asking for money. He suggested that perhaps I should speak with you at others times as teacher and spiritual father.  That insight is appreciated. I will seek ways to do so. 

The fact is of course that the Catholic Family Sharing Appeal is an important part of our local Church. It supports my ministry as your bishop and the diocesan programs that express our concern for all especially the young, the struggling and those with special needs. But before I discuss that Appeal, allow me to reflect a bit on my first year and three months as the Eighth Bishop of Sioux Falls, of eastern South Dakota. 

New to South Dakota when ordained, I indicated that during my first months I would focus mostly on listening and learning. That is what I have tried to do. As I noted on my anniversary of ordination, among the many things I have learned, foremost is that the presence of God is here in a way I have not experienced before. 

During this time I have traveled well over 50,000 miles and prayed at over 80 parishes. I have met and listened to thousands of people in various forums. Among the concerns you have raised are about our youth and the impact of the multitude of influences in their lives, the future of the Church especially as some communities experience a declining and aging population while others grow so rapidly, and the seeming divide between the rural and urban. The diocesan agencies that are supported by the CFSA will be charged to reflect on these and other concerns you have raised. 

I have grown to love the haunting panoramic beauty of the open spaces, crafted by God to be different each season. The courage, tenacity and sacrifice of those who went before us and who left us so much, but nothing more important than their love of family and faith and therefore a legacy of hope, is truly humbling.  

Over the decades you and those who went before have generously offered your time, talent and treasure to build up Christ’s Church in your local parish and in the diocese. An important expression of that generosity is through the annual Catholic Family Sharing Appeal.  

Because of you parishes and the diocese together offer an encouraging spiritual, sacramental and educational presence to people of all ages who seek to grow in faith and to live meaningful and fulfilling lives. 

We as church encourage healthy family life through marriage preparation and marriage renewal, natural family planning and other pro-family programs. Adult faith formation explains not only what the Church teaches but why. Adolescent faith formation provides encouragement to teenagers and young adults who are thirsting for meaning in their lives that can only come through Christ.  

Newman Centers offer welcoming and safe havens for college students. Catholic Family Services offers personal counseling including crisis pregnancy, adoption services and post abortion support from offices in Aberdeen, Pierre, Mitchell, Sioux Falls and Watertown with 13 outreach offices throughout eastern South Dakota. These and other programs give help and hope to those who are anxious, confused or hurting at sensitive times in their lives.  

Your generosity allows 38,000 households to receive the Bishops Bulletin monthly, access to the diocesan website, and the TV Mass, a wonderful source of consolation especially to the sick and homebound. The respect life office continues our commitment to proclaim the sanctity of life from conception to natural death. The vocations office supports those men and women who are discerning God’s call to serve Him and you as priests, deacons or religious, while the planning office helps us to realistically prepare for the challenges of the future. 

This week you will receive a letter from me with a pledge card which you can return to your parish. Please prayerfully consider a gift to the ministries of your diocese. It is a wonderful way to remember and honor those who have gone before by allowing us to build on their legacy for those yet to come. Thank you in advance for your continued generosity. 

Some of you cannot, I know, make monetary contributions. Please contribute with special prayers for the success of this appeal and for me, our priests and your brothers and sisters in Christ. 

During my first year as your bishop, I have learned of my need for deeper prayer. How easy it is to become caught up in the winds and worries of the everyday world. Through prayer we are united with God and with each other. As Pope Benedict XVI recently reminded us, prayer is a source of hope. So are you a source of hope for me. I Give Praise to the Lord for each of you and for your parish. 

May Mary our mother and St. Joseph our patron watch over you and those you love.

Bishop Paul J Swains CFSA Letter

My Dear Friends,  

“With grateful hearts remember those courageous and faith- filled men and women and women, clergy and consecrated, native and immigrant, who nurtured and nourished the land and built the visible church on the plains and commit ourselves to honor them by being good stewards of their legacy.”

In God’s generosity we have all received countless blessings both material and spiritual.  It is out of that sense of having been blessed that we are called to share what we have been given with grateful hearts. 

The Catholic Family Sharing Appeal supports vital ministries and programs throughout eastern South Dakota.  The appeal allows a dimension of ministry that transcends the individual parish and unites all the parishes of the diocesan Church. It supports those needs that are beyond the abilities of any one parish.   

Your support will help us continue CFSA benefits to thousands of people each year through Catholic education, social outreach, vocations recruiting, seminary education, pastoral ministries, evangelization and counseling programs to name a few. Nearly 40,000 copies of the Bishops Bulletin are received into every Catholic household every month. The TV Mass reaches thousands each week who are homebound.  The Internet website is helping to reach a whole new generation of faith.  It allows us to build on and nurture the legacy that has been given to our generation for the next generation.  

Please join with the many others in your parish and our diocese to reflect and pray about your participation in the CFSA 2008.  With growing needs in a secular world and a profound opportunity to make a difference, I encourage you to gratefully consider your commitment.  I realize only you know what you can afford and I am thankful for your gift whatever that may be. Pray is wonderful and important gift as well.  Please pray for me, our priests, our diocese and our parishes as well as for one another.  Please also pray for the success of this appeal and for the effectiveness of these ministries in sharing the love of God with all in eastern South Dakota.  

Be assured of my prayerful appreciation and gratitude.

The Most Rev. Paul J. Swain
Bishop of Sioux Falls