My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Once again it is time to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, our national holiday that has deep religious roots and which allows us time to give thanks not only for the harvest as it did in the past but also for the benefits of the society in which we live. There are many things which we may be thankful for this year. Certainly, the minimal loss of life from Hurricane Sandy in our area despite the terrible destruction it wrought is something for which we must be thankful. The suffering, pain, dislocation and impoverishment that has affected so many in our Diocese, however, is something we need to remedy in any way possible.

Every year on the last Sunday of November, a national collection is taken up in our parishes for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). The history of this collection and the movement it represents has deep roots here in Brooklyn and Queens. Bishop Francis Mugavero, Fifth Bishop of Brooklyn, was one of the first incorporators of this campaign as a member of the United States Bishops Conference. As a trained social worker and one who understood the issues of his own diocese, Bishop Mugavero embraced the inherent genius of this campaign.

Clearly, the CCHD attempts to alleviate poverty in America and defend human dignity. A manner in which the campaign attempts to do this is somewhat unique. It is a funding mechanism for groups that come together, especially in low-income areas. The board members of each group must have a good representation of low-income people to develop solutions that change the structures of our society which cause poverty and deprivation to exist in the midst of the richest country in the world. There will always be inequity in our society. Every political system that has tried to eliminate this inequity has failed. There must be the possibility for the necessities of life: food, housing, clothing and medical care are the basic elements that respect human dignity.

Once Blessed Mother Teresa was asked, “Who are the poor for which you work?” Thinking for a moment and recognizing the myriad works that her Missionaries of Charity performed for the poor, she simply stated, “The poor we work for are those who have no one to love them.” Real poverty exists when people are forgotten, marginalized and, in effect, not considered as important or worthy of love.

For the past several weeks, we have seen the great outpouring of generosity for our own here in Brooklyn and Queens by so many here in the Diocese and by others from our City and beyond. This is truly a testimony that we do, indeed, care. There are, however, other structural issues that are being addressed in the Diocese, not only by the funding of local grants, but also by the national grants that have been given to our Diocese. The programs funded this year are Bushwick Housing Independence Project, Centro Hispano Cuzcatlan, East River Development Alliance and Desis Rising Up and Moving.

In this case, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in our Diocese receives in return more than it gives. Last year, our annual collection was almost 15 percent over the previous year. For the wonderful generosity of the people of Brooklyn and Queens, the Diocese was recognized earlier this month at the annual General Meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Grants funded by the national collection were in the amount of $155,000, while a certain amount, 25 percent of the funds collected in our parishes, remains in the Diocese for local projects which groups present to the Diocese. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development in the wake of Hurricane Sandy announced a special grant program of $500,000 for areas affected by the storm.

On Thanksgivin we render thanks to Almighty God for all of the blessings that we have received. In return, we put out into the deep by offering whatever we can to alleviate human poverty and to respect human dignity. Your generosity in the annual collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is personally appreciated by me.