In a good economy or bad, it would be hard to find a better place to invest $25 than a subscription to The Catholic Post.
While year-end financial statements arriving in mailboxes are shocking many households with negative numbers, we offer this good news: the $25 you dropped in the parish collection basket or mailed to us one year ago brought quite a return.
Consider this our year-end report as we begin a new subscription period. Your 2008 investment in The Catholic Post delivered inspiration and information to your home, including:
— Forty-eight reminders that you are loved by Jesus Christ and that you belong to caring families of faith beyond your parish — the Diocese of Peoria and the Universal Church.
— Front row seats to major events, often ignored or under-reported by other media, such as last week’s national March for Life that drew nearly 200,000 people to Washington, D.C. Our pages also brought the images and messages from such significant gatherings as a march of 1,000 Catholic men through downtown Peoria, the ordination of six new priests, the Rosary Festival, and last February’s historic Mass advancing the sainthood cause of our own Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
— Practical advice for Catholic living ranging from movie reviews with a moral perspective, to parenting tips, to the sharing of favorite holiday recipes spiced by the stories of faith and family behind them. We regularly publicized opportunities to volunteer or spread Christian charity to places and people in need. Special sections included a guide to Catholic colleges of the Midwest and how to cope with the death of a loved one.
— Weekly reflections on the Sunday Mass readings to help prepare for the most important hour of our week.
— The full texts of important teaching documents from Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, the U.S. bishops, or the Catholic Conference of Illinois.
— The most complete coverage of Catholic youth activities found in any U.S. diocesan newspaper through our locally produced The Catholic Student section.
— Introductions to neighbors living the Catholic faith in heroic ways, such as the Grys family of Pekin, recently featured on television’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” or this week’s profile of Deacon Philip Sailer of Rock Island, marking 50 years in Catholic education.
— Answers to commonly posed questions about the faith and Catholic commentary on the latest headlines by the best writers in the Catholic press.
This list is far from exhaustive, but it provides ample evidence that The Catholic Post is a sound investment — a year’s worth of Catholic adult education for less than the cost of one tank of gas.
Maybe your retirement fund took a hit in 2008, but this small investment in your eternity did just fine, returning 48 stimulus packages for Catholic living.
Now is the time to be smart again. Renew, or start, your subscription to the newspaper of the Diocese of Peoria. Write the check now, bring it to your parish this weekend, and enjoy the positive returns for the next 12 months, whatever they might hold. — Thomas J. Dermody