2022: A Banner Year!

The parish community of St. Joseph’s in Hardin processes on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi with their new Eucharistic canopy.

Saint Faustina wrote, “Not only are we to receive and adore the Eucharist; we must live the Eucharist. We are to let the rays of mercy from the monstrance pass through us and go out through all the world.” Here at the Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana, our donors know that to receive our Lord at Mass on Sundays means that we must also show His mercy in our daily lives. Giving to the Foundation’s permanent endowments for Catholic parishes, schools, and other ministries in our diocese is one way they have chosen to ensure that the mercy of Christ will pass through them to their communities, now and for generations to come.

Because of these generous souls, the Foundation recently mailed 109 distribution checks in 2022, totaling $537,000. Given that the US Bishops launched the National Eucharistic Revival on June 19—the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ—one distribution was spent in a particularly timely way.

Father Kiran Kumar Bernard, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Hardin, used this year’s Father Fabian Fehring Memorial Endowment distribution to purchase a beautiful, embroidered canopy for their frequent Eucharistic processions. For centuries, processions have served as a way for Catholics to evangelize by openly demonstrating reverence and love for the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Thanks to donors to this endowment, the merciful Christ who is present in the monstrance will now be accompanied with greater beauty throughout the town of Hardin.

So, to all our donors who give to the permanent endowments that serve the Church in so many ways, thank you. Because of your faithful support, hand-in-hand with the Foundation’s successful investment strategy, the total value of annual distributions from the Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana to your beloved Catholic communities and ministries has grown 34% in just four years! What will be possible forty years from now?

It was a banner year for the Foundation’s annual distributions: a total of $537,000 was mailed to the Catholic parishes and schools you call home (and many other ministries, too). In just four years, the dollar amount of annual distributions our beneficiaries receive has grown 34%!