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During this past
year, with the help of Susan
Stolfa, the Diocese has established a diocesan committee for
C.C.H.D. Some parishes had speakers who spoke about what the work of
C.C.H.D. has done for them. There are 5 Target parishes, with another 6
parishes with contact persons. This year the Diocese of Austin collected
over $108,000. for CCHD, which was almost a 10% increase over last year.
Almost 90% of that increase came from the Target parishes and parishes with
contacts.
At the Target meeting, the national staff shared
the plans and materials for a new CCHD program: Poverty USA. The purpose
of Poverty USA is to:
-
raise public awareness about the reality of
poverty
-
increase compassion for the poor
-
dispel the myths and stereotypes about the
poor.
Poverty USA
will
have a number of public service announcements and messages on TV, radio, and in
the print media. Some of the highlights they will remind us of are:
-
1 of 11 families in the U.S. is in poverty;
-
1 of 6 children in the U.S. lives in
poverty;
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There are 32 million Americans living in
poverty.
-
If poverty were a state, it would be the
second largest state in the Union--bigger than Texas!
We hope you will look forward to these ads and
announcements. We can proud that our Church is reminding all of
U.S. society of the needs of the poor.
John's departure from Tucson was exciting.
He got up at 4:00 a.m. in order to be able to drive to the airport and catch a
very early flight. While he was having his coffee, the fire alarm went
off. He had to carry his luggage down 7 flights of stairs--without
finishing his coffee. Then it was almost impossible to check out because
the clerk kept answering phone calls about the alarm. Who said
Tucson isn't an exciting place?
On the 6th of January, the family of
Holy Cross, Brothers, Sisters, Priest and novices got together at St.
Joseph's Hall, St. John's School, Sekondi, Ghana to celebrate the
feast of Blessed Brother André.
In accord with African tradition the
extended family of Holy Cross, the parents, brothers and sisters of the
pre-candidates, candidates and pre-novices were invited to join the
celebration. The Feast of Blessed André provided the District with the
occasion to begin a regular plan of getting to know the families of our
candidates and giving them the opportunity to know us, our life and our works.
Some of the family members had to travel long distances to be with the
community.
At 11:30 am when the chapel at St.
Joseph's Hall was filled the celebration began as members of the community
were introduced to the invited guests and the candidates in turn introduced
their families. Then the celebration of the Eucharist began with a
booming song to St. Joseph. Fr. Bob Gilmour
was the celebrant. A fine homily on Blessed Brother André was given by Sister
Margaret Mary Nimo. After the post communion prayer the
gathering listened to Bro. Joseph Tsiquaye
give a brief history of Holy Cross in Ghana and of its formation efforts.
After Bro. Joseph Tsiquaye finished his sharing with our candidates' families Bro.
Michael Amakyi, the District Superior, thanked him and took the
opportunity to announce to all that Bro. Joseph Tsiquaye, our first Ghanaian
District Superior, will be leaving Ghana soon to serve the Congregation as a
member of its General Administration in Rome. All were very happy for
the honor being paid him and honored by the fact that this will be the first
African Holy Cross Religious and the first Ghanaian to serve on the General
Council of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
After the final blessing and song
everyone continued the festivities outside on the lawn under the huge mahogany
tree which provides wonderful shade. A grand meal was served and enjoyed
by everyone. Late in the afternoon after many words of good-bye and
"Let's do this again!" people began their various journeys home.
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