The Real Story
The Peter's Pence Collection derives its name from an ancient custom. In ninth-century England, King Alfred the Great collected money, a "pence," from landowners as financial support for the Pope. Today, the Peter's Pence Collection supports the Pope's philanthropy by giving the Holy Father the means to provide emergency assistance to those in need because of natural disaster, war, oppression, and disease.
By supporting this collection, our parishioners are standing next to Pope Francis as a witness of God's love to those most in need and participating in good stewardship through solidarity with the rest of the world.
Most of our parishioners are eager to partake of that solidarity by being generous stewards. We, as parish leaders, need to make it as easy as possible for them to give. One key aspect is to give parishioners the information needed to make a decision about how to support Peter's Pence.
Most effective is to do an announcement before Mass begins that includes information about the collection. You might think it's important to include the history of Peter's Pence that is in the first paragraph of this blog. In that same Mass do an announcement at collection time reminding parishioners that their Peter's Pence envelopes should be deposited in the collection basket as it gets passed around.
Thank you, Parish Leaders, for being good stewards of this special collection and for all the good stewardship you show in so many ways!
