Building a Legacy of Trust
“Would you be willing to tell me what cards and money are in my wallet, please?” asked the blind woman in her mid-50s. She opened the wallet and showed it to Joe Bulger, CCNLA’s Operations Manager. The two then worked together to review and organize her wallet. “Thank you so much.”
Trust is a strange thing. There are people in our lives we trust implicitly – blindly you could say – and others we trust discriminately. As followers of Jesus, we trust that His timing is perfect, even when it comes to something as unpleasant as our own death.
Thinking about one’s death isn’t usually high on anyone’s list of “favorite things to do this weekend.” Despite its uncomfortableness, death is something we work toward each day. With every decision we make, life’s end draws nearer, and the legacy we are to leave behind comes more into focus. God bestows unique gifts, talents, and treasures upon each of us. How we choose to use those gifts during our time on earth becomes the legacy that we leave. What will your legacy look like?
At Catholic Charities, each staffer works to leave a legacy of compassion and understanding through our clients and the work we do every day. Through one-on-one interactions like that of Joe and the blind woman, we work to build trust and unwavering faith in Jesus through our outreach. Our dedication to faithful works and honest conversations allows us to impact clients’ lives in unexpected ways.
Many times, the results of our actions reach far beyond the arms of our diocese. Sister Bernie Barret, the program director for CCNLA’s Lake Providence office, had no idea that her feature in the Liguorian magazine about the extreme poverty in her area of Louisiana, would elicit donations from as far as Minnetonka, Minnesota and Hazlet, New Jersey. And Kirsten Gladden, regional director of CCNLA’s Monroe office, could not have foreseen how a brief encounter with a foster group organizer would bring so many donations to the doors of the Monroe Gabriel’s Closet.
Our vision statement at Catholic Charities of North Louisiana is “Together we invest in people to alleviate poverty, distress and injustice.” Every word in that vision is intentional, but perhaps the most important word is the first: together. Not only do we work with one another each day for the betterment of our community, we also look for ways to grow trust among you and others across our diocese. We want to help you build a legacy that brings honor and glory to God. Catholic Charities wants to be the organization that you trust with your time, talent, and treasure. We want to build systems to alleviate poverty, distress, and injustice, and we want to do it with you by our side. We want to be a pillar in the nonprofit community across the Diocese of Shreveport, and we want you to celebrate the victories with us. We want to build, showcase, and nurture a trustworthy relationship with every person in every community throughout the Diocese. We want to build a legacy together.
What do you want your legacy to be?
Build a righteous legacy through Catholic Charities of North Louisiana today by calling 318-865-0200 ext. 109 and speaking to Erin Smith, director of development.
Published in the October 2020 edition of the Catholic Connection, a publication of the Diocese of Shreveport.