Dear Friends,
You’ve read many letters now, I’m sure, that begin with the words, “In these uncertain times…” In one way or another, we are all struggling with uncertainty; it seems almost every aspect of our lives is now unknown. Coronavirus impacts our health, our families, our work, our ability to participate in the sacraments, our future. As I think about the unknown, I am reminded of the Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue and his poem This Is the Time to Be Slow.
This is the time to be slow
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.
At the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota (CCF), we see you holding tight to “your hesitant light,” and we are blessed to see how “you remain generous.”
Whether you’re praying intensely for the ill, maintaining regular tithing to your parish, or contributing to the newly founded Minnesota Catholic Relief Fund (MCRF), you’re helping to bear light for others. Your generosity, added to that of other Minnesota Catholics, has helped our faith community endure the hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’ve filled this newsletter with stories of light. Learn how grant dollars catalyzed local Catholics to engage more deeply with Church teachings that compel us to live lives of holiness and build a just society. Read how one couple bears light to their parish community through service and philanthropy. Learn more about the Minnesota Catholic Relief Fund and its impact on our local Church striving to sustain ministry in the midst of such uncertainty.
We are grateful for the many ways you choose to be light for others at this time. Our Catholic community is brighter and more hopeful because of your steadfast faith and generosity. We trust we will once again find ourselves, as a community, “on fresh pastures of promise.”
All of us at CCF pray that the Lord will grant you and your loved ones both health and peace.
Sincerely,
Anne Cullen Miller, MBA
President