Beloved Faithful in Christ,
Greetings and blessings to you and your loved ones in the Name of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Last month, we witnessed the tragic explosion in Beirut and the immense human suffering that ensued. The faithful of our God-protected Archdiocese – seeing the need of our brothers and sisters in Christ – immediately stepped into action to raise funds. To date, we have raised $673,781.64 to help alleviate the material toll of this disaster, and we have prayed fervently for spiritual healing as well.
Beloved faithful in Christ, our goal is to raise $1 million dollars in assistance to our brothers and sisters in need. We witnessed another fire break out in Beirut just yesterday. When St. Theophan the Recluse was asked in letter from a young woman about what she should do when coming across people in need, he wrote: “You ask, ‘Must one do something?’ Of course one must!” In the face of this tragedy, of course, we must act!
St. Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippians, admonishes us today: “When you can do good, defer it not, because ‘alms doth deliver from death.’” St. Polycarp quotes the Archangel Raphael in the book of Tobit to remind us of the central importance of almsgiving as he exhorts us not to wait. If you have not given yet, please defer no longer. If you have given, please consider helping our suffering brothers and sisters even more!
With prayers for a spiritually uplifting and grace-filled feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Life-giving Cross, I remain,
Your Father in Christ,
+JOSEPH
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America