Director’s Blog
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for the least brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40
As I began to pray and ask for guidance on what I would say to readers as director of Catholic Charities, the above kept coming through. These simple words stir deep emotion in me. I am not ashamed to say that their power has brought tears to my eyes more than once. I trust that many of you also have felt their moving power.
| At work we craft mission statements, vision statements, and other documents and statements to guide us. At Catholic Charities — like any other organization — we find doing that useful in providing a direction and setting a pace.
But, for Catholic Charities, after all our human-generated words are jotted down and put into place, I wonder … do we really need more than the simple words above to call us to serve and to guide us each day? Like all ministries of the Diocese of Green Bay, everything we do at Catholic Charities begins and ends with Jesus Christ. Our daily work is structured to serve others, to serve people of all faiths. |
Our call to serve is founded and built on our love of Jesus Christ and his love for us. As a Catholic ministry, with guidance and direction from our tireless and courageous bishop, the Most Rev. David Ricken, we strive to faithfully reflect the Church’s social teachings and echo God’s mercy.
Catholic Charities works diligently to ensure that each person we serve is treated with the compassion, dignity and respect each human life — each child of God — deserves.
In some ways Catholic Charities is no different than other service organizations. Generating the dollars and cents needed to run the operation is challenging, especially in a poor economy. And meeting growing demand for service in a time of very limited resources can be overwhelming.
These two issues alone make it tough at times to maintain a highly-skilled, confident and motivated workforce in any service organization. But we have been blessed. Our community support is strong. Our board is insightful and supportive. Our staff is engaged.
May God bless all who have helped Catholic Charities through prayer, by contributions of time or treasure, by lending a helping hand, providing insight, or sharing and promoting our mission with others in an effort to assist us in fulfilling our call to serve God’s children.
— Ted Phernetton, Director