As we celebrate the seventh World Day of the Poor on Nov. 19, Pope Francis asks us to reflect on the little known but powerful story of Tobit.  In particular, the Pope directs us to act with mercy: “Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor.” (Tob 4:7) These words challenge us to see the face of Christ in all who are poor and to be the love of Christ to them. He further exhorts us to connect our gathering at the table of the Lord to how we live in the world. “If it is true that around the altar of the Lord we are conscious that we are all brothers and sisters, how much more visible would our fraternity be, if we shared our festive meal with those who are in need!”

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is focused on lifting up the voices of the poor and marginalized and empowering them to take their rightful place at the table of humanity. For Catholics in the United States, the weekend of November 18-19 is our annual collection for CCHD, the U.S. bishops’ anti-poverty, gospel justice program.  Through the grants we make to well-vetted organizations, CCHD uniquely empowers those in poverty to identify their own needs and to become their own agents of positive change.

As a result of your generosity from last year’s CCHD Collection, thousands of low-income individuals in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati benefitted from the outreach of our funded organizations.  Among them are hard-to-hire people obtaining jobs and employment skills, youth developing leadership skills, and neighborhood leaders securing decent housing and public services in their communities.  In every instance, CCHD was there to hear their cries, help them find a place at the decision-making tables impacting their lives, and give them a sense of ownership over their communities.

CCHD is a mandatory collection in the archdiocese, which means that every parish is to take it up.  We send two-thirds of this collection to the national CCHD offices at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (much of which comes back to fund organizations operating in our archdiocese).  The remaining one-third is granted to agencies in our own archdiocese through our local CCHD Committee and Social Action Commission.  A small portion supports the U.S. bishops’ Black and Indian Mission Fund, anti-poverty education efforts in our parishes and schools, and administration of these funds.  It is our strict policy that organizations that receive CCHD funds must not participate in activities that promote abortion, same-sex marriage, the death penalty, affronts to human life and dignity, or any positions contrary to fundamental Church teaching.

Thank you in advance for your donations on CCHD Collection Weekend.  You can learn more about CCHD’s work in the Archdiocese at https://resources.catholicaoc.org/offices/catholic-social-action/task-forces-committees/cchd.

With gratitude for your attentiveness to the cry of the poor, I am