Christmas has come!

All the hype in the world around us bombards us with advertising to buy this or buy that. Is there ever a point when we can say, “that’s enough?” Will that new iPhone really be the gift to repair a broken relationship? I don’t have an answer for you. Only honest communication can resolve misunderstandings between family and friends. Gifts are nice but they can’t buy love.

We need to look deeper into the mystery of Christmas. God has given the greatest gift of all. In this holy season, we celebrate the great gift of God to us in Jesus Christ. God’s love is the reason this is a time of sharing, of gift-giving!

As you no doubt have shared already your Christmas blessings and gifts with family and friends, can you find it in your heart to help us make this Christmas a little more hopeful for the many needy families we encounter at our Native American missions in Arizona and New Mexico?

Your Alternative Christmas gift donation can provide much-needed clothing and school supplies for the children attending school on the Navajo Reservation. It can also provide the funding to heat our mission churches on the Reservation where some of the weekly collections can’t even pay for the utilities. Your donation can help to provide a scholarship for a Native American or Hispanic student to attend Catholic school.

Please consider giving an alternative gift in the form of a donation to our Southwest Franciscan Missions in the name of a loved relative or friend. If you wish, we will send your loved one a special note which tells them of your alternative gift in their name. We can send a special note to them or send it to you so that you can forward it yourself.

You can make a donation in honor of a loved one by mailing your donation
to: Southwest Franciscan Missions, P.O. Box 12395, Albuquerque, NM
87195-0395.

Please know that you and your loved ones are remembered in our daily prayers, good works, and Masses during this Christmas Season.

Your spiritual and financial assistance is deeply appreciated.

Peace and All Good,
Br. Bruce Michalek, OFM
Director of Development