This Sunday, November 20, the Solemnity of Christ the King, will see parishes across the Diocese of Lansing take up the annual collection for the work of the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching.
“The Diocesan Catholic Social Teaching Collection supports catechetical projects which inform and inspire our practice of the Church’s teaching in the world,” explained Kishore Jayabalan Chairman of the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching, November 16.
“The collection is deliberately held on the Solemnity of Christ the King because, as Pope Pius XI stated when he established the feast, ‘when humanity recognizes, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony’.”
The Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching was established in 2020 by Bishop Earl Boyea to assist him in his ministry to catechize all the baptized in the Diocese of Lansing on the principles of Catholic social teaching, advance the dignity of the human person, and to promote the common good of society.
At the same time Bishop Boyea inaugurated an annual diocesan collection to help fund small grants for parishes and other Catholic entities within the Diocese of Lansing who wish to promote and practice Catholic Social Teaching. Small grant recipients are selected by the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching.
Last year the annual Catholic Social Teaching Collection has raised $19,289.58 (as of October 27, 2022). Meanwhile, the following four small grant applications received funding over the past year:
1. Saint Martha Parish, Okemos | Catechetical Series on Catholic Social Teaching | Grant: $2075
2. Saint Robert Bellarmine Parish, Flushing | Catechetical series on Catholic Social Teaching | Grant: $5000
3. Sacred Heart Parish, Hudson | Catechetical series on Catholic Social Teaching for young people | Grant: $600
4. Saint Anthony Parish, Hillsdale | Food co-operative initiative including formation in Catholic Social Teaching | Grant: $5000
To know more about the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social teaching or how your parish, school or apostolate can apply for a small grant go to: https://www.dioceseoflansing.org/social-teaching/what-is-catholic-social-teaching