Next weekend will be our parish stewardship weekend. Very soon you should be receiving a letter in the mail which will also include our parish stewardship commitment form. I ask that you bring this commitment form with you filled out next week and drop it in the collection basket. There will also be commitment forms on hand for those who might not of received one for one reason or another. Last year when our parish held its stewardship weekend we had a 5% response rate. It is my hope that the whole parish will consider participating in this stewardship weekend.
For many stewardship is defined solely as the giving of money. A better definition of stewardship would be: “Stewardship is the grateful response of a Christian Disciple who recognizes God’s gifts and shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor.” From this definition we can see the need for us to take what has been entrusted to us and to share it with others.
Therefore, we can say that stewardship is a form of service which is given out of response to our faith. In our Gospel Christ instructs us: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” This concept goes against our culture where being humble and willing to serve others is not always easy. Saint Theresa of Calcutta understands the Gospel, but stating: “Love cannot remain by itself- it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.”
This concept of love being a form of service calls us towards a spirit of sacrifice. The word sacrifice does not mean to give up something that we want, but instead means to make holy. We make our lives holy by sharing our gifts in the service of God. This is precisely what stewardship calls us to do. Through committing ourself to a life of stewardship we begin to freely give of ourself out of love.
I thus invite each of you to reflect in your prayer upon the many gifts that God has entrusted to you. There are so many parishioners who give of their time, their talent, and their treasure to the benefit of this parish community. In giving of one self you ask for nothing in return, but give out of love. This is what I am inviting you to do when it pertains to stewardship.
Most of all I invite you to pray for the good of this parish community. Prayer is the key which is most important if we are to grow as a parish. Prayer unites us to the Father and through this relationship we are given the invitation to to be a servant to all. May we thus respond to this call with the confidence of faith and grow in the virtue of love.
