This weekend has been set aside to be our parish stewardship weekend. With this in mind we come to reflect upon the importance of stewardship in the life of the faithful. Sadly, many will define stewardship solely as the giving of money. This definition is lacking of a true stewardship mentality. Stewardship is a freely given response to the Gospel where one chooses to give of their time, talent, and treasure.
It is in the Gospel of Saint Matthew that we are given the Parable of the Talents. Through this parable we are told how some did something with what they were entrusted while one chose to do nothing with what he was given. If we are to take a stewardship mentality upon ourself we must realize that we have been given a lot and from what we have been given we are called to do something with it.
In today’s Gospel we are told of a wedding feast and how one was thrown out of it due to not wearing his wedding garment. So too we have received an invitation to this celebration that serves as an image of Heaven and we must be found ready to enter by wearing our wedding garment by living a life of faith. If we have been entrusted with much we are called upon to do something we those gifts which we have received. To be cast off from the wedding feast is to say that this individual did not live a life of faith. Through a stewardship mentality we faithfully live our our faith in service to the Gospel.
In this parish community we have many who are convinced of such a reality. They have chosen to give of their time, talent, and treasure to this parish community. Without our many volunteers it would be difficult to accomplish much as we are told in Sacred Scripture for “the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few." When parishioners come together to take ownership of their parish home we are better able to serve the Gospel message here in Johnson City.
This week you will receive a letter in the mail asking you to make a stewardship commitment to this parish for the year to come. Please pray over the responses that you will give as you you discern how you can give back to this parish from the midst of your time, talent, and treasure. Most of all I ask that you continue to offer your prayers for the good of this parish community. It is my fervent hope that every household will return this commitment form in the week to come or find another means of returning it to the parish.
Let us continue to be good stewards over the many gifts that have been entrusted to our care. As good stewards we give our faithful response to the Gospel as we strive for the Kingdom of Heaven above all things. Let us always come to faithfully live out this commitment as we respond to God’s call to live more graciously with everything that has been entrusted to our care.
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