In this season of new life and new beginning, I want to share with you some remarkable news about the future of our diocese. As you know, after the Benedictine Sisters of St. Martin Monastery sold their building and 200 acres to the diocese and the Rapid City Catholic Schools, we renamed it Terra Sancta, to remind us that, like the Holy Land, it is holy ground. In addition to being in the Black Hills, which our Lakota brothers and sisters remind us are indeed sacred, the Sisters lived holy lives there through their sacrifice, work and prayer.
Over the past year, we have worked quietly to raise funds to renovate Terra Sancta and also to assist our Newman Centers in Rapid City and Spearfish, which serve our college students. We are calling this effort the We Walk by Faith Special Appeal. I was encouraged to take on this historic challenge by our priests, who as a group pledged from their personal resources more than $700,000, the first five percent of the goal. They convinced me that we could not pass up this unique opportunity, as it would provide our families and parishes with a place all Catholics can call home.
In the next few days and weeks, you will be hearing more about this effort and we will be asking your help to reach our goal. If we all make a sacrificial gift, there is no reason we should not be successful. Fifty years ago, Catholics took a similar challenge in building the Cathedral. We now have an historic opportunity to build on the legacy of our ancestors. Like them, we approach the future with hope. Like
them, we walk by faith.
