Bishop Wenski's Homily

How do we let people know about our Catholic faith? How do we evangelize our faith and spread the Good News? Through the ministries helped by Our Catholic Appeal, we are able to bring the Good News to members of Christ’s faithful who participate in our Churches, as well as those who are alienated from the Church or who may not yet know of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. In Isaiah 49, the Lord says, “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Through Our Catholic Appeal, you become a light to the nations, bringing the Lord’s salvation to all.

GROW
We bring salvation to the world through the work of almost 270 priests both active and retired; 100 religious sisters and 190 permanent deacons serving the Diocese of Orlando. Three priests and six permanent deacons were ordained last year. Twenty-two men are preparing to become priests.

We are a light to the nations as our 37 schools serve as centers of evangelization for almost 15,000 students. 30,000 young people receive religious education with 4000 catechists and religious education teachers.

We grow in our personal living and loving relationship with Jesus in and through His Church, as we are nourished by Word and Life Giving Bread and Saving Cup. Celebrations like the Blue Mass, honoring public safety personnel, are some of the many ways in which we live on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. During Reconciliation Weekend last March, more than 5,000 visited our parishes to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

We turn to San Pedro Center serving more than 10,000 individuals each year, offering them spiritual sustenance and renewal through Liturgy, Scripture, retreats and lay ministry training programs.

Through Our Catholic Appeal, you proclaim that Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit by preparing and welcoming more than 1,000 new Catholics at Easter each year. Last year, more than 2000 people participated in a special Mass for Reception of Baptized Christians, coming into full communion with our Church, again bringing forth the importance of the richness of the Sacraments in our life of faith.

LEAD
We lead young people to participate in the marriage preparation programs that will lead them to embrace the faith as they embrace a new life together. As witnesses to hope, thousands are trained as pastoral leaders and ministers to the sick.

As leaders of faith, you bring the Good News to more than one million people through Catholic publications, Buena Nueva FM; Television Mass in English and Spanish, and our bi-lingual website. We offer the celebration of Mass in seven different languages, and we also welcome associations of the faithful to the Diocese.

Respect Life advocates promote the gospel message affirming the value of human life from conception to natural death.

22,000 college students encounter Christ through our Catholic Campus Ministry programs at our colleges and universities present within the Diocese.

SHARE
We are called to share our treasure in proportion to God’s blessings to us, giving selflessly in a spirit of love for the Lord.

Missioners to our sister Diocese in the Dominican Republic, San Juan de la Maguana, continues its home building projects. Two churches and a community center were built. Medical missions served almost 2000 patients last year.

Through Catholic Charities of Central Florida, we serve almost 100,000 people in need each year. At Pathways to Care, almost 300 homeless people are assisted with medical and shelter needs We offer food and financial assistance; provide mental health, pregnancy and marriage counseling, and assist with adoptions. Last year we welcomed nearly 300 refugees and their families.

Celebrating our farmworkers as well as our multi-cultural communities, we reach out in the name of Jesus Christ as a friend, instead of stranger so that Jesus may be known as a friend to all.

We create an environment of developmental opportunities for the residents of Bishop Grady Villas, a community for intellectually and physically disabled adults in St. Cloud.

We are called to invest in the life of the Church in Orlando. As Catholics, we are a people who commit to grow, lead and share our living faith in Him. Please join me in this year of evangelization proclaiming ourselves as joy-filled witnesses to hope who are alive in Christ. In so doing, I again invite you, through our Catholic Appeal, to make our gifts transformational and change lives, in the Lord’s name. Please be generous. May your gifts for our people, our ministries and our future, come from your heart and be based on love.