Retirement Fund for Religious Special Collection
 
August 2017
 
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
 
Next weekend, on August 26 and 27, our parishes will take up the special collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious. This collection benefits some 33,000 retired sisters, brothers, and religious order priests, who have consecrated their lives to serving God and the Church, and especially those orders who have served in the Diocese of Sioux City over the years. This collection is distinct from the Easter collection for the infirm and retired priests of our own Diocese.
 
In the past, faithful and joyful religious served in so many of our schools, parishes, hospitals, and many other ministries. Their commitment and generosity brought so many gifts to all the people of our diocese. With gratitude, we remember the sister who patiently helped us learn our multiplication tables or the brother who coached our high school team, teaching us that faith must be lived out in every aspect of our life. Though now their presence is much reduced, we continue to honor this legacy by striving to imitate their example.
 
Today, many of these sisters, brothers, and religious order priests are elderly or infirm. Most worked for years for small stipends, leaving their religious communities without adequate savings to meet growing retirement and eldercare needs.
 
Please support these elderly religious with your prayers, and consider faithfully what gift you can make to this collection in thanksgiving for their decades of faithful service. May God bless you most abundantly in all your needs and in your faith.
 
Your brother in Christ,
Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of Sioux City