Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal 2022

Published: February 5, 2022

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor recorded the following homily to be played at all Masses in Arkansas on Feb. 5-6, 2022.

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Bishop Taylor

Last year, our annual Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal (CASA) was conducted in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccines had become available for most of us.

We were all dealing with much uncertainty and taking extraordinary precautions to try to slow the spread of the disease so that our health care facilities would not be overwhelmed, and with special concern for the most vulnerable among us.

I think this pandemic has been a wake-up call for many of us. Gotten us to think about what is really important, and I thank you for how well you have responded. We are all in this together! 

This year, I come to you in the middle of the Synod on Synodality, a worldwide, two-year process called for by Pope Francis, a special time of journeying together and listening to each other. The goal of this synod process is to become more inclusive under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we look to our future as church.

Pope Francis has asked that we pay special attention to those on the margins whose concerns are often overlooked. This includes special listening to those who, for whatever reason, have distanced themselves from the life of the Church. Maybe they have a hard time with Church teaching or feel abandoned or have been hurt in some way. The pope also wants to hear the voice and concerns of the average Catholic in the pews, which is you!

Last year, despite the pandemic and the attendant financial uncertainty that many of us experienced, you were amazingly generous to our CASA appeal, and today I come before you to ask you to do the same again this year.

CASA funds the operations of the diocese that support our journeying together, including the offices that support ministry that occurs in your parish, plus services and programs that go beyond what any parish could ever do on its own. For instance, last year we ordained five new priests and currently have 40 men in training for the permanent diaconate who will be ordained this June, and 22 men studying for the priesthood.

In previous years, I have given you a long list of offices and services that are funded each year through CASA. There has been no change in that list, which you can also find in this week’s issue of Arkansas Catholic, so in the interest of brevity I will not repeat that list now.

But I will point out that many of the most frequent diocesan-wide areas of concern surfacing in our synod consultations thus far are already being addressed to some degree by ministries funded by CASA, including Hispanic ministry and ministry to youth and young adults.

Instead, I will just ask you to be generous with your tithe, giving 10 percent back to the Lord. Our rule of thumb is 1 percent of your annual income to CASA, 5 percent to your local parish and 4 percent to other charities, for instance Catholic schools or Catholic charities. I trust that everyone will give to CASA in this special year of the synod if you possibly can.   

Our lives are not yet what they were prior to the pandemic that began in 2020. Let us all pray that life will soon return to normal. I think we’re on the right track, but we still have a way to go in our journey together.

Thank you so much for your faithfulness and for your generosity.