Benefiting all the people of the Diocese of Pittsburgh across six counties, Our Campaign for The Church Alive! addresses urgent needs—to strengthen parishes, invigorate evangelization, revitalize sacramental life, support education and formation in the faith, train pastoral and lay leaders, and serve the poor and marginalized. In a recent interview, Bishop David Zubik discussed the positive response to the campaign to date.

More than 40,000 donors have contributed or pledged financial gifts to the campaign. As bishop of the Church of Pittsburgh, what does this say to you?

Many people are really surprised because the response seems to go beyond any expectations. But it doesn’t surprise me because our people always have responded so generously whenever we are focused on the needs of each other, and especially when we are motivated by the challenges that have been given to us by Jesus himself.

Is the campaign one reflection of how excited many people are about their faith?

The day I was installed as Bishop of Pittsburgh I challenged all of our faithful to really be excited about our faith. And I have seen this consistently over the course of these last seven years-plus. This campaign is just one more example about how much the people of our diocese are in love with Jesus and how much we want to support each other on our way to the Kingdom of God.

Many parishioners also donated their time and talents to the campaign and many priests plan to ask them to stay involved in ministry. How vital are these gifts?

We began with the charge from Jesus to his disciples, the last words that he spoke before he ascended into heaven—now you go forth and make disciples of all the nations. I think that the campaign has excited a lot of people, really lit the fire of their souls to become more involved in the work of the Church. So while the generous donations to the campaign are one sign of this, what I’m beginning to see are how many people are using their talents to make the Church more what it needs to be, the body of Christ.

You asked for sacrificial gifts—foregoing something that we might like to do for ourselves, in order to give it for the benefit of somebody else. Why is that so important?

There really are two ways to give. One is just to fulfill some sort of an obligation. But the second kind of giving is one that really comes from the heart. It’s important for us to go back to the root of the word ‘sacrificial,’ sacrum facere—to make holy. And so as people have responded and sacrificed to this campaign, I truly believe that we have all done so to make holier the Church to which we belong, and hopefully, the world in which we live.

Some lay leaders see the campaign as a way to evangelize. How can we build on this momentum?

It’s so true, isn’t it, that all of us really have fallen in love with Pope Francis. And since his election in March 2013, so many of us have begun to take even more seriously what it means to evangelize. When we take a look at that call, to really be the face of Christ to those whom we minister to, and to recognize in those whom we serve the very face of Christ, we begin to understand better and better what it means to share the Good News.

For anyone who has not yet gotten involved, is there still time to participate in the campaign?

There’s always time for us to be active, loving, passionate, energetic members of The Church Alive! To anybody who yet wants to give some consideration to supporting the campaign, please consider whatever it is what you can do to continue to help our Church to truly be Alive.

Words at this time pretty much escape me, because no words can express the deep gratitude I have for our willingness to work together for the salvation of everyone in our Church and beyond.