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Jesus is Lord! |
PARACLETE ENTERPRISES |
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Pro Deo Guild
"Billions of greeting cards that put
Christ into all seasons
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The
Riverdale Press The letters come in from all over the world to a small store in Riverdale. There are postmarks from the steamy jungles of the Amazon, from a leper colony in India, from the outskirts of Singapore, the mountains of Bolivia and the plains of Brazil They write in gratitude and thanks for life-saving money used to buy food for starving families of 15 children; of funds to build a dispensary to aid the disease ravaged Chinese suffering the aftermath of floods; and of curing 700 lepers who would otherwise go untreated. Scattered around the world on every continent are people in need. All these far-away places have something in common: Catholic Missionaries and the Pro Deo Guild, Inc of Riverdale. Pro Deo means..."for God." explained long-time Riverdalian Michael Burke. "We all work for God here." The Guild, a non-profit organization composed of lay people who give all their spare time to raising funds for Catholic missions, was founded by Mr. Burke and some friends at the Knights of Columbus on Post Road.
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"Christmas Cards started it," Mr. Burke said in his soft Irish brogue. Back in 1950, he wanted a box of religious Christmas cards and found that there were none available in New York. No one was interested in that kind of card he was told."In an effort to prevent the feast of Christmas from becoming a pagan celebration, we began the campaign to put Christ back into Christmas," he said. With his friends, he began Pro Deo Guild.The business last year reached every Catholic school and church in America and provided more than $50,000 in funds to Catholic Missionaries around the world. Born in Brickens, Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Ireland, Mr. Burke, now in his 70s, is the eldest of 10. Rather embarrassed by the limelight, Burke seeks no gratitude or recognition. "Work in the Guild is its own reward," he says. "We seldom say a word of thanks to anyone who helps us. We feel that anyone working for us is working for God, and that God's blessing will be with them."
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Quotes from Mike Burke:
"If we can help some Catholic priest to put Christian footprints on the sands of a Turkana Desert, we will feel that our efforts have been worthwhile."
"The whole PRO DEO achievement is nothing beside one day's work of a committed missionary."
On investing PRO DEO profits in Wall St. to make much more to give - "That's faithless and pathetic, invest in God here and now. He will pay more than the Wall St. percentage."
"Spreading the faith is ingrained in the Irish character because it cost our people so much sacrifice to stay faithful to it."
"St. Patrick's Cathedral was built and paid for mostly by Irish girls earning less than a dollar a day."
"Missionaries are not getting the material support they deserve and that is a shame."
"Cut down on many enterprises at home and send urgently required funds where they are needed."
Paraclete Enterprises was started by Joe Burke to continue
the outstanding work of his father Mike Burke with the Pro Deo Guild.
