St. Joseph Catholic Church - Neptune at 28172 Nature Avenue, Hinton, IA 51024-8553 US - SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

2003 January 25-26—Briar Cliff University Sunday donations help provide scholarships to the nearly 300 students from our diocese who attend Briar Cliff University. Please use the envelope in your packet to help support Briar Cliff’s service to our young adults. ASH WEDNESDAY Collection on Ash Wednesday for the Churches in Eastern Europe March 5, 2002 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In recent years, we have taken up a Collection on Ash Wednesday for the Churches in Eastern Europe. This past year, in his trip to the Ukraine, the Holy Father expressed gratitude for having the opportunity to visit such an important land. He called the Ukraine “a crossroads of peoples and cultures, where over a thousand years ago the Gospel began the course that led it to spread and take root in the historical and cultural fabric of the people of Eastern Europe.” The past fifty years of Eastern Europe have been particularly difficult. The persecution of all Christians and the forced suppression of the Eastern Catholic Churches caused great trauma for all those lands. Three generations of imposed atheistic culture have had profound and serious affects on the life of the peoples in Central and Eastern Europe. We in the United States are blessed with civic and religious freedom; we understand the importance of human solidarity. Thus I invite all of our priests and people to give generous support to the efforts of those who are seeking to rebuild the ancient faith and its infrastructures in the lands where a number of our ancestors lived. I am particularly concerned for the faithful in the Eastern Catholic Churches. I can still vividly remember the humble requests of a Romanian Byzantine Catholic Bishop, newly released from prison in 1989, who begged just for pencils and paper in Rome to use for his newly re-opened seminary, already filled with 50 seminarians. Let our charity be unsurpassed in coming to the support of such deep faith and simple but profound needs. Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Rev. Daniel N. DiNardo Bishop of Sioux City FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT Catholic Home Missions Appeal and the Collection for Black and Indian Missions March 9, 2003 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, It has been our custom in the Diocese of Sioux City to combine the Catholic Home Missions Appeal and the Collection for Black and Indian Missions into one action on the First Sunday of Lent. At the beginning of the season of repentance and renewal we turn our hearts and minds to Americans in our midst who are in need of significant assistance. This helps the effort of evangelization in these communities. The National Black and Indian Missions Collection is the oldest annual appeal in the United States. It reaches to both the urban and rural black Catholic communities, particularly in the South, and to the many Native American Catholics on reservations throughout the West and Southwest. For Catholics in Sioux City, the results of our giving can be felt nearby in the Diocese of Rapid City where the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and other reservations in the Diocese receive great support each year through our efforts. The Catholic Home Missions Appeal is essentially a request to help the very rural and poor areas of Appalachia, Texas, certain parts of the Dakotas, and the three Dioceses in Alaska, who deal with the Eskimo Catholic population in their midst. Some 82 Dioceses throughout our country obtain assistance for their work of formation and evangelization because of the monies realized in the Catholic Home Missions Appeal. The mosaic of the Catholic community in the United States is made up of many pieces, and all of them are precious. Let us build up the harmony of design of that community by our support of these two worthy causes this Lent. Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Rev. Daniel N. DiNardo Bishop of Sioux City MARCH 29-30, 2003 AMERICAN BISHOPS’ OVERSEAS APPEAL: Giving Hope to a World in Need Nearly half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. In Bolivia, the poorest country in South American, people live in areas with few or no basic water and sanitation services. Catholic Relief Services is there – developing a water system and providing education. Acts of terrorism, war and persecution affect nearly 15 million people who are enduring desperate lives as refugees, unwelcome in another country and unable to return home. Migration and Refugee Service is there – helping refugees begin new lives of peace and hope through resettlement in the U.S. The poorest countries have not fully benefited from international debt relief legislation and struggle under a crushing debt. Social Development and World Peace is there – focusing the attention of the world on this problem. These Catholic organizations are helping the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters around the world. Please support them by giving to the ABOA collection next Sunday. Who is “Jesus in Disguise”? Jesus in Disguise in 2003 can be: · One of the 43,000 people who die of hunger and its consequences every day · One of the 4.4 billion people living in developing countries where: o basic sanitation is often lacking; o safe drinking water is scarce o adequate housing is a challenge o modern health services are almost non-existent o education beyond the fifth-grade level is rarely available for the majority of people Please help by giving to the ABOA collection. Your support will go to Catholic organizations working to bring relief and hope to our brothers and sisters around the world. GOOD FRIDAY April 18—Holy Land Few places in the world are as precious to Catholics as those where Jesus Christ, Our Savior, walked and taught…lived and died. Your generosity can help keep alive those Holy Places and the Franciscan Missioners who serve the people there. All the work done by the Franciscan Friars for the pilgrims, the native Christians and the poor of every faith depends, in great part, on your generous support. Please be as generous as you can to our less fortunate brothers and sisters in the Holy Land when the annual Collection for the Shrines and the people of the Holy Land is taken up on Good Friday, March 29, 2002. The Holy Land Franciscans EASTER SUNDAY National Collection for Retired Religious April 19-20 My dear Friends in Christ, As we enter the heart and center of our Lenten observance, the celebration of the Triduum, from Holy Thursday evening until Easter Sunday, we are privileged to renew again in word and sacrament the event of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. It is our salvation that we celebrate. Its reality and promise spurs us on each year to greater gratitude for the gift of Christ Jesus. We arise with the Risen Christ to be his witnesses – by words and by actions. It has been customary in the Diocese of Sioux City to take up the annual National Collection for Retired Religious on Easter Sunday. The blessings that Women Religious have given to the local Church of Sioux City are immense. These women worked diligently with very modest compensation. They trusted in the Lord Jesus and the generosity of others to provide for them in their advanced years. They had no insurance or pension plan, and were not eligible for Social Security. This has presented a critical problem for the Church in the United States. Great strides have been made in the last fourteen years through the generosity of so many. More than 60,000 – the majority of religious in the United States – are now past the age of 60. Those who are physically able, continue to minister long past the typical retirement age. They are our wise elders and as they confront the challenges of aging, they maintain a vision of ministry to others. Not matter their age, no matter their need, they look for ways to serve others. And, in doing so, they give us countless modern parables in the ongoing pilgrimage of faith. Let us reassure our Women Religious of our gratitude for their dedication and service to the Church, and through our generosity to this special collection, continue to assure them of our support and love. I thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity to the Retirement Fund for Religious this Easter Sunday. I ask the Lord to bless each of you and your families as we participate together in the great mysteries of Holy Week and Easter. Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Rev. Daniel N. DiNardo Bishop of Sioux City MAY 17-18 Catholic Communications Campaign June 28-29—Peter’s Pence [Collection for Holy Father] enables the Holy Father to respond to requests for emergency funds from the most needy throughout the world. The gospel continually challenges us to lend a helping hand to those in need, to help build a better world with justice for all. This special collection is an opportunity to demonstrate justice as well as kindness to our brothers and sisters in need. Please pray for the Holy Father’s works and contribute generously to the appeal. Please use the special envelope in your packet for this collection. OCTOBER 18/19--World Mission Sunday NOVEMBER 22/23--Catholic Campaign for Human Development[CCHD] 34 million people in America live in poverty including 1 out of every 6 children. Since 1970 the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has worked to help people break the cycle of poverty, not just for a day, but for a lifetime. CCHD projects in our diocese and throughout the United States support low-income people as they work together to solve community problems, increase educational opportunities, and create jobs. CCHD relies on this annual parish collection to fund anti-poverty programs in communities across the country. Please support this annual collection. Thank you for your generosity to the CCHD and asking God’s special blessings upon you and your families, I remain, Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Rev. Daniel N. DiNardo, Bishop of Sioux City. November 30—Neptune Altar Society Adopt-A-Family. Your contributions next weekend will help Mid-Sioux Opportunity help needy families in Plymouth County for Christmas. Please place you contribution in an envelope marked “Adopt-A-Family” with your name for proper acknowledgement. CHRISTMAS December 25—Catholic Charities. With severe cutbacks in funding from many charitable sources, Catholic Charities is cutting back on services. In order to continue the excellent work, please make a generous contribution to Catholic Charities at Christmas. -Bishop DiNardo --------------------------------------- PLEASE DO NOT USE SPECIAL COLLECTION ENVELOPES for contributions to the parish. These envelopes are ONLY for Special Collections (i.e. Briar Cliff, Easter Church, etc.). TWO envelopes are to be used on the Sundays there is a Special Collection, one for the parish and one for the Special Collection. Donations in Special Collection Envelopes WILL BE given to the charity the Special Collection is for. ---------------------------------------

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