Mass cards help the ADCCW raise funds for seminarians

By Catholic Spirit Staff

The Austin Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (ADCCW) has a long history of supporting women in the diocese. But it also has a history of supporting seminarians who are studying to be diocesan priests.
In 1948, the ADCCW created the Clerical Endowment Fund to help pay for the education of seminarians. To date, the CEF has provided more than $4.5 million toward the education of future priests.
The CEF is funded through bequests from estates, special donations, annual parish drives and through the sale of Mass cards. Each time $8,000 has been generated or contributed toward the fund, a burse is named for an individual.
CEF Mass cards are sold in parishes throughout the diocese. The spiritual benefits of each Mass card enrollment include Masses offered monthly by the bishop and the CEF director, and the recipient of the Mass card is remembered in the prayers of the seminarians and the Carmelite sisters at the Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Christoval.
The CEF Mass cards make good gifts for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, baptisms, First Holy Communions, confirmations and graduations, said Judy Edwards, the current CEF president.
“They can also be given as a thank you gift or on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and other special occasions,” she said.
The Mass cards may be purchased for $2 or $5 (individuals), $25 (perpetual), $50 for a family or $100 for a group.
This year, during the Rural Life Mass on July 14, the CEF presented Bishop Joe Vásquez with a check for $167,138.69 for the education of the seminarians.
Typically, the ADCCW holds a conference in April, but this year it was canceled because of the pandemic. At the conference, the CEF hosts a banquet to honor the priests who have received a burse throughout the previous year.
The priests who would have been honored at the annual CEF banquet include Father Joy Adimakkeel; Father Pedro Castillo Aguillon; Father Pat Coakley, MSC; Father James Deaconson; Father Ramon Frayna; Father Edwin Kagoo; Father Joseph Kim; Father Matthew Kinney; Father Charles Kullman, CSP; Father Pius Mathew; Father Ruben Patino, CSP; Father Dominic Perunilam; Father Florencio Rodriguez, TOR; Father Joseph Varickamackal; Father Peter Walsh, CSC; Father Dariusz Ziebowicz, SDS.
For more information about the CEF, contact Judy Edwards at (979) 846-0617.