Tuesday 28 April 2020
Archbishop Launches Winter Appeal for People Struggling in Community
In his appeal letter sent to donors this week, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB said it was in the midst of extraordinary circumstances that he was launching his annual Winter Appeal for LifeLink.
The Archbishop writes, “My letter is prepared some weeks before you actually receive it in your letterbox, so I can only wonder at what may have occurred in this time. Every day, new directives from State and Commonwealth Governments responding to the pandemic caused by Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), results in dramatic changes to our lives.
As a people, all of us are suffering. We share in the anxiety and stress as hundreds of thousands lose their jobs and businesses close – how will mortgages or rents be paid, how will we survive financially? We have been forced to isolate from one another, our freedoms and movements limited; we struggle to buy basic grocery needs that a month ago was an everyday task undertaken with little conscious thought.
As people of faith, we share a tremendous sense of loss, prevented from gathering together in Church to celebrate the Mass which is at the heart of our lives as Catholics. It is our way of gathering as a community of faith to draw strength from each other. It is our way of listening to the Word of God in faith. It is our way of offering our lives, our needs, our hopes and our loved ones to God. It is our way of allowing the Lord to unite us to Himself in Holy Communion”.
He said, “Our brothers and sisters in need must be feeling an even greater sense of isolation, loneliness and despair than we might possibly imagine. During this crisis, we have an opportunity to truly be disciples of Jesus, who gave everything he had and was for us, by answering the call from those who reach out to us for help.
We can do this through our collective support for the Church’s social service agencies supported through LifeLink, which on behalf of us all, continue in their mission of care – protecting the most vulnerable and showing compassion to those most in need in the community”.
Archbishop Costelloe has called on the Catholic community to join with him to help
raise a minimum of $300,000 for people in real need throughout WA.