Please Consider Issuing a Challenge Gift!

Challenge gifts are a highly effective way to inspire greater philanthropy in others.  Typically, a challenge gift begins with a donor telling a group of people that he or she will contribute a certain dollar amount if the group cumulatively contributes at least that same dollar amount, e.g. “I will contribute “X” dollars if the rest of our group together contributes “X” dollars.”  Another similar example of a challenge gift is when a donor states that he or she will match 1:1 all gifts made up to a cumulative amount, e.g. “I will match all gifts up to a maximum cumulative total of “X” dollars.”

TMIY Men: 

The TMIY Fall Appeal will begin in a little over a month and we have our largest goal ever of $1.6 million. Please prayerfully consider issuing a challenge to your group to help us maximize the appeal’s success. You can work with your group’s core team leader on the details and how you would like the challenge announced. If you would like to issue a challenge but wish to remain anonymous, please contact our VP of Development, Len Bertolini, at [email protected] or 630.242.0611. He would be happy to communicate the challenge to your core team leader while keeping your identity anonymous. If your group will have a challenge gift in play this fall, please let Len know.

We would also be delighted to discuss a challenge gift for any of our other programs should you have interest. Again, please contact Len either by phone or email to have a conversation.

Thank you very much for your consideration of a challenge gift to inspire other donors and help Paradisus Dei achieve its goals for Fiscal 2025!

Joseph found Christ dwelling in Mary. The sixth step challenges us to find God in and through other people in a unique way and calls spouses especially to realize how profoundly God dwells in their marriage, their children, and their home.

Here are some ways to live Step 6 in your life today!

1. Compliment your children and your spouse each day.
2. Pray to find God’s presence in your spouse.
3. Ask forgiveness from someone you have offended.
4. Evaluate friendships and business relationships from a spiritual perspective.

Learn more about the 7 Steps of Superabundance by visiting:https://archivesite.paradisusdei.org/7steps/

With the stock market reaching unprecedented levels recently, now might be the perfect time to make a gift of stock to a favorite charitable organization like Paradisus Dei.  Gifting appreciated securities is a very tax-savvy way to make a financial contribution because it can provide you with significant tax benefits that go beyond a simple gift of cash.  For example, a gift of stock may provide you with a double tax benefit, provided you have owned it for at least one year:

• You are able to deduct against your income the full value of your shares at the time you gift them, not just your basis in the stock.  Let’s say you bought shares of a company’s stock for $5,000 two years ago and now they are worth $10,000.  Gifting them allows you to deduct $10,000 against your income, not just your basis of $5,000.
• You can avoid significant capital gains taxes which are often as high as 20 percent.  In the example above, the owner of the stock would face a $5,000 capital gain if he or she went to sell those shares which could cost as much as $1,000 in taxes.

Paradisus Dei, of course, benefits too. If you sold the stock, you would have to pay the capital gains taxes, and you would have less money to contribute. When you donate the stock, we sell it immediately, but because we are an exempt organization, we don’t have to pay capital gains taxes.

To learn more about a gift of stock or how to make one, please contact Len Bertolini, our VP of Development, at [email protected].  As always, please consult your accountant or financial advisor to determine what form of charitable giving would be of greatest benefit to you and your family.

Calling all new and returning TMIY Core Team Members! Join us for our pre-season kick-off call with Mark Hartfiel and Michael Gormley.

August 29 | 8:00 pm CT

Register HERE  for the Kickoff Call

FOR RETURNING PARISHES

As part of our 2024 Kickoff Series, you can also jump in on our Technology Updates Webinar on August 14.

Register HERE for the Technology Updates & Refresher Webinar

Watch HERE for the recording from Revitalize Your TMIY Group Webinar from July 31

One beloved aspect of the Missionaries to the Family community is gathering to share experiences and generally encourage one another on the journey. Missionaries and their families in the Diocese of Victoria, Texas, met for an annual “Family Fun Day” this past May 11 at the Bar Dot Ranch. Mass with Bishop Brendan Cahill highlighted the gathering, concelebrated by Father Jacob Koether, Episcopal Vicar for Evangelization and Catechesis, and Father Michael Rother. Twelve Missionary couples, along with their family members, joined in the day of food and fellowship, which included lawn games, fishing, and paddleboat rides!

Fr. Jacob shared, “I am very grateful for the work of Missionaries to the Family. Having couples in the parish who have intentionally considered their married life as a vocation and been formed in the Church’s vision of marriage causes a ripple effect that is difficult to put in words. My Missionary couples are the ones I rely on the most because they’re always available and willing to serve…their joy and passion are infectious. I can see healing taking place in their relationships and in their homes, and I can see spiritual renewal even happening in the lives of their children.  These Missionaries are proof that the saying – “So goes the family, so goes the world” – is true.  I wish all my married couples could be formed like this, because then my parish would be a true missionary community focused on preaching the Gospel and making disciples of Jesus. Thank you, Missionaries to the Family.”

Twenty missionary couples from 6 parishes currently serve in the Diocese of Victoria, and 6 more couples are entering formation this summer. Praise Him!

At the end of the 17th century Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque (1647-1690) and asked her to spread devotion to His Most Sacred Heart. In a letter written to her Mother Superior in May 1688, St. Margaret Mary set out what is called The Great Promise Our Lord made regarding the Nine First Fridays and what we must do to earn it:

“On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to His unworthy slave, if I mistake not: ‘I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that Its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under My displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, My divine Heart making Itself their assured refuge at the last moment.’”

First Friday Requirements: To meet the requirements for the First Friday Devotion a person must, on each First Friday for nine consecutive months:

1. Attend Holy Mas
2. Receive Communion
3. Go to Confession*

*Some Catholic resources on this devotion say that Confession is not strictly required unless you need the sacrament in order to receive a worthy Communion, in other words, you need to go to Confession so you can be in the state of grace before you can receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Other sources say you must go to Confession with in eight days before or after the Friday. Even if you are in the state of grace. If in doubt, consult your spiritual director. The more prevalent view prescribes the latter

The Twelve Promises listed below includes the “Great Promise” (number 12).

1. I will give them all of the graces necessary for their state of life.
2.  I will establish peace in their homes.
3.  I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4.  I will be their strength during life and above all during death.
5.  I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.
6.  Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
7.  Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
8.  Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
9.  I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored.
10.  I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11.  Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12.  I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant all to those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.