Dear CE Community:
I am pleased to report that our fundraising appeal has met its baseline goal — the "must have" amount we needed to continue publishing. That was such a wonderful Christmas present, and we do thank you! We hope you had a joy-filled Christmas as well.
To date we have raised 42% of what came in during last year’s fundraising campaign. Most of our donations last year came in during this last week of the year. So we believe that with your help — if you will click here we can meet or exceed last year’s giving totals.
That would be a huge help as it would enable us to devote more attention to launching our new, redesigned website and deliver even better content.
It’s not too late to still take advantage of the recent matching gift to Catholic Exchange of $10,000. This generous gift from one of our supporters will immediately DOUBLE your end of the year gift.
It’s not too late to get a tax deduction on your 2009 taxes for your gift to Catholic Exchange, either.
Please click here and multiply your gift to Catholic Exchange.
I was reminded of the vital need for Catholic Exchange yesterday when I encountered this deeply troubling statistic. Did you know that only 33% of U.S. Catholics attend Mass on a weekly basis? That means 2/3rds of U.S. Catholics-some 42.7 million people-are not practicing their faith.
Nearly all Catholics have family members or close friends who have fallen away from the Church. They need the Church’s beauty and truth-her fidelity to Christ-presented in a fresh and appealing way.
Please click here to help us reach that person in your life-maybe it’s your brother or sister or your best friend from high school or college-with whom you used to be bonded in the faith.
Tragically, so many Catholic institutions that once served the faithful and the world have either vanished or remain Catholic in name only. It’s no surprise that so many Catholics take their faith less seriously or simply do not understand the faith.
Fortunately, new media publications like Catholic Exchange can do much to fill the gap, as Pope Benedict recently emphasized.
"I want to take this occasion," Pope Benedict said, addressing the Pontifical Council for Social Communications this past October, "to ask those in the Church…to take up the challenges these new technologies pose for evangelization," the pope said.
Pope Benedict’s speech was especially strong in emphasizing that all facets of new media like video, slide shows, social networking, video conferencing, webinars and the new applications to come should be used in meeting the evangelization challenge.
Please click here to help fulfill this clear mandate.
We want to employ all the means the internet makes available, and we cannot do this without upgrades to our operating systems.
As I’ve mentioned, we have been working on a major redesign of our site, with greatly increased functionality. We want to bring these advancements to you as soon as possible — that’s very much part of our dream.
Please click here and help us evangelize millions of lukewarm or fallen away Catholics.
Help us maintain and upgrade a site that you can recommend to that person in your life who needs to grow closer to Christ and His Church.
Thank you and God bless you!
The peace of Christ,
Tom Allen
P.S. It’s also not too late to take advantage of the very special premium gift we have for our supporters this year — a collection of the best products Catholic Exchange has ever produced all in one package to help strengthen family members and friends who may be in need of a spiritual boost. All $100 donors to Catholic Exchange will receive a "Spiritual Care Package" consisting of our Champions of Faith: Baseball and Champions of Faith: The Bases of Life DVDs, along with our bestselling books, A Guide to the Passion, the Five Issues that Matter Most , and The Davinci Deception . Why not send one of these items along with a note about Catholic Exchange to one of the inactive Catholics you are praying for?
P.P.S. During the coming crucial week, when we are all finalizing our year-end charitable contributions and the tax deductions that go with them, I will keep you regularly informed of Catholic Exchange’s progress — both as to funding and other positive developments. Great things are just around the corner!
