During the past eight years, the Bright Christmas Campaign has received well over one million dollars in donations that were distributed among parishes and groups in Brooklyn and Queens. I am overwhelmed by the generosity our readers show us each year.
Thousands of children in our diocese have been able to celebrate Christmas, receive a present, or have a nice dinner with their families thanks to your generosity.
I have often wondered why the Bright Christmas Campaign is a success year- after-year. I think it’s because we all are a little more humane during the Advent season. The innocence and fragility of the Holy Child wake up “our better angels.” Christmas is the time when we remember our childhood and past holidays with family members who are no longer with us.
After celebrating Thanksgiving, we start preparing for Jesus’ birth. We all know how terrible this year has been, how uncertain our plans are for Christmas — or any other plans for that matter. However, we could all agree that we need the sense of happiness and love the season brings us.
More important, Christmas is the birth of our faith in two different ways. Historically, our Christian faith was born on December 25. The reason for our hope is the child born in a stable. And on a personal level too, Christmas is the origin of our faith. Most of us don’t remember our baptism. Our first recollections of being Christian are usually associated with Christmas. The Christmas tree, the family dinner, the Nativity scene, and toys under the tree were our first catechism. As toddlers, most of us learned our first Bible stories and the mystery of the Incarnation from the wonderful experience of Christmas.
Think about how important those early experiences were for your Catholic faith when you became a teenager and adult. The seed of the faith that flourished later in life was planted during the Christmases of our childhood. When you donate money to the Bright Christmas Campaign, you are allowing underprivileged children to have that experience. You are helping to evangelize them. And you are helping to evangelize their families, too.
Your generosity is an example of what it means to be Christian: helping people when they are having a difficult time. Thank you for showing them the true face of Christ. To send your donation, simply make out a check to The Tablet’s Bright Christmas and mail it to:
The Tablet’s Bright Christmas
1712 10th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215
You can also make donations online by visiting thetablet.org and clicking on the Bright Christmas link on our home page. If you are a pastor, parish associate, or director of a diocesan group and you need assistance this Christmas to help children in your area, you should contact me immediately so The Tablet can help.
We grant funds only to parish groups and others associated with the Diocese in Brooklyn that ask us for help. If you have a request, send it directly to:
Editor-in-Chief Jorge Domínguez
c/o The Tablet’s Bright Christmas
1712 10th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215
You can also send your request to TabletBrightChristmas@desalesmedia.org.
This is not a toy collection drive and we don’t accept clothing or other material goods for distribution. You send us the money and we put it into the hands of someone who is working directly with people in our neighborhoods. In turn, they use the funds in the most effective ways for those in their charge. Some buy and wrap presents. Others conduct a group party. Some share a meal with their parish families. The sooner you send the money, the quicker we can share your love with someone who needs it this Christmas.