Across the United States, hundreds of religious communities lack financial resources sufficient to meet the retirement and health-care needs of aging members. Many elder religious worked for years for small stipends, leaving a large gap in retirement savings. At the same time, fewer religious are able to serve in compensated ministry. Like many Americans, religious communities face the monumental challenge of funding eldercare. Today, retired religious outnumber wage-earners by nearly three to one.

We proclaim that human life is a precious gift from God; that each person who receives this gift has responsibilities toward God, self and others; and that society, through its laws and social institutions, must protect and nurture human life at every stage of its existence. This collections supports the below Maternity Homes for the Diocese of Austin: Annunciation Maternity Home in Georgetown, Our Lady of the Angels Maternity Shelter in Temple, and the Pro-life activities Office of the Diocese of Austin.

Catholic campus ministry in the Diocese of Austin aims to build a faith community on our 12 college and university campuses, bring the message of Christ to the academic world and prepare future leaders of society and our church. This collection directly supports our campus ministry programs at the colleges and universities in our diocese.

The Catholic Church in the U.S. has a strong history of supporting worthy causes in our own parish communities and beyond. This combined collection will benefit areas in the Church that are greatest in need. There are many places beyond our borders where the Church is poor, communities are scattered, and priests are few. This special appeal helps Catholic communities in Latin America, Black and Native American Home Missions, Catholic Home Missions, Africa and Central and Eastern Europe, by underwriting evangelization, religious education, education for future priests, and training for lay ministers.

This collection is an opportunity for you to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable people around the world and here in the United States. Your support funds organizations dedicated to aiding people affected by war and natural disasters, migrants and refugees in need of material and legal assistance, and people worldwide whose livelihoods are impacted by changing political and environmental conditions.

Every year on Good Friday, parishes in the diocese take up a special collection to support the Franciscans working in the Holy Land. The collection is devoted to not only the preservation of the Holy Places of pilgrimage where Jesus lived, died, and rose again, but above all to pastoral, charitable, education and social works for the welfare of our Christian sisters and brother there.

The Diocese of Austin, along with our Vocations Director Rev. Greg Gerhart, works tirelessly to ensure that we have sufficient priests to celebrate the sacraments, preach homilies that move hearts and guide our faithful on their journey to Christ. To ensure our priests are well-prepared, seminarians study philosophy, theology, scripture, and pastoral care, seminarian education and formation in the Diocese of Austin takes anywhere from seven to nine years, depending on the academic background of each man in formation. In addition to the academic formation, the Diocese cares for the whole seminarian with health insurance, ongoing formation in prayer and spirituality, and summer programs for the study of Spanish. The total cost of forming a seminarian is about $55,000 per year. May God bless you for your generosity and please pray for our seminarians.

The Peter’s Pence Collection will be taken up worldwide to support the most disadvantaged – victims of war, oppression, natural disasters and others in need of emergency assistance. Pope Francis has asked us to “care for those who are in need of attention, understanding and help, to bring them the warm closeness of God’s love through tangible actions of sensitivity, of sincere affection and of love.” The Holy Father uses the Peter’s Pence Collection to strengthen dioceses, religious orders and struggling communities of faith when they need it most.

Pope Francis invites the entire Church to support mission dioceses in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Latin America and Europe, where priests, religious and lay leaders serve the world’s most vulnerable communities. Please keep the Pope’s missions in your prayers and be generous in next week’s collection for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.