Double Your Money — and Your Hope

Posted by Tom Hoopes

Friday, May 29, 2009 9:00 AM

Today at the Register we sang our last Regina Coeli for the year. Monday, it’s back to Ordinary Time.

But in between is Pentecost, when we are expecting great graces.

First, from friends who will double any donation you make this weekend.

Second, from the Holy Spirit’s own “matching grant.”

Benedict celebrated Pentecost Mass in Washington in 2008 — though it was weeks away from Pentecost.

He said in his homily: “In the excercise of my ministry as the Sucessor of Peter, I have come to America to confirm you, my brothers and sisters ... and to implore from the Lord a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in this country.”

That new Pentecost is not a silly dream, but a solid expectation from the Pope himself.

We at the Register believe that the Church’s best days are ahead.

Furthermore, we’re convinced that what we’re doing at the Register is one of the most important tasks in the media —  telling the continuing story of God’s great project of changing the world through human agents.

The Church’s story has always been a paradox of hard times and bright futures.

The Church was weakened by years when catechesis was neglected, pummeled by priest scandals and wounded by laypeople’s embrace of abortion and divorce.

But it’s also a Church with a blossoming apologetics movement. It’s a Church filled with a growing number of families sacrificing to educate their children in the faith. It’s a Church whose bishops are imaginatively addressing the difficult issues of our day. Ours is a Church where dissenters are aging and dwindling, and where World Youth Day veterans are filling their pews with children and our seminaries with vocations.

Not to mention these 10 Signs of Hope.

The Register doesn’t think of the Church in America as a shadow of its former self — we know it’s a flicker of its future glory. And that’s not a fool’s hope.

It’s the serious hope of Pope Benedict XVI.

We were there during his trip to America, when he spoke with John Pauline optimism about the New Evangelization, a “great jubilee” for America, the “new springtime of the faith.”

We want to help him make that happen.

That’s where donors come in.

The Register operates with a budget deficit that’s enough to buy and pay for a couple of houses yearly. Such is the nature of mission-driven journalism. Subscribers and advertisers help a great deal. But not enough to keep up with the costly “3 ps” of publishing: payroll, printing and postage.

For your donation, you will get an IRS letter certifying our 501c(3) status.

And you will help equip our readers to engage the culture.

Somewhere, tomorrow’s Catholic leaders are reading up on the top issues of the day from a hope-filled, pro-Catholic perspective. They’re reading the Register.

So this weekend: Pray for the new Pentecost, and help fund its promotion.

Here’s how to help.

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