A Thanksgiving Message from Tim

Three decades ago, I so clearly remember dreaming and praying about my vision for Catholic Leadership Institute. I sat down with a piece of paper and wrote down ideas, goals, and aspirations.

As many of you know, I don’t think small. The goals I transcribed onto that piece of paper were big ones. I prayed fervently to our Lord, asking Him to help me follow His will.

Since we know all things are possible with God, I won’t say that they were impossible goals… but they were close!

Today, I think about the…

• Vibrant Next Generation Parishes we are working alongside
• Courageous priests participating in Called For More
• 301,490 Disciple Maker Index survey respondents
• 115 dioceses we have walked with
• Humbling milestone gifts that have transformed our ministry
• Record-high number of requests for CLI support received in the past 18 months

…and I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

Today, on Thanksgiving Day, I tell you with sincere honesty and candor: what you, what the leaders we serve, and what our CLI community have accomplished over 30 years has far, far exceeded what I wrote down on that piece of paper.

I thank you. I thank you so very much.

Today, please know that I am praying for you with great gratitude and praying with you with great hope for the future of our Church.

And I thank our Lord – in advance and with trust – for the blessings and plans He has in store for the next 30 years. Plans and a future that are possible because of all of you!

p.s. If you would like a glimpse into how your gifts have truly impacted leaders over the past 30 years, I invite you to watch a panel hosted by Dan Cellucci last week that will help match faces to the philanthropy that has been so graciously shared with us over the past three decades.

Make sure you watch until the end… Dan’s last question and the three panelists’ answers were powerful!