“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mt. 22: 21). When some of the religious leaders try to trap Jesus with a question about whether or not to pay the Roman taxes, Jesus reminds his listeners that everything belongs to God; after all, he is the creator of the universe and gives us all that we have. We read in the Bible that, after God had created the heavens and the earth, he planted a garden and placed man there to tend it for him. We also read that God blessed Solomon when he built a magnificent temple to God. When Peter acclaimed Jesus as Messiah, Jesus told him, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.” And, we read throughout the Bible that God commands us to love him with all our heart, all our understanding and all our strength.
And so, first of all, we are called to adore and worship God. Every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we proclaim that God’s glory fills all of creation and we rejoice, proclaiming “Heaven and earth are full of your glory! Hosanna in the highest!” We thank God for all his blessings as we learn about how, down through the ages, he has called us back to himself and then, in the fullness of time, sent his Son to show us the way back to Him. Our beautiful church reminds us of God’s goodness to us. Our stained glass windows recall God’s work of creation and salvation. The cruciform of our church and the crucifix above the tabernacle recall our Lord’s saving work on the cross. And, we are called to store up treasures in heaven for “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Mt 6:21).
Sacred Scripture also teaches, over and over again, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Our worship of God – who has blessed us in so many ways – leads us, in gratitude, to want to share this good news of our salvation with others. So, we use our time, talent and treasure to make God’s goodness known to everyone. We care, in a special way, for those who are forgotten by the rest of society or who struggle, for one reason or other. We recall that our eternal destiny depends on our love of neighbor: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink” (Mt 25:34+35). As I noted in my article last week, so many of you are very generous throughout the year as you are called to care for the needs of those in our neighborhood, archdiocese and, indeed, throughout the world. You realize that “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Lk 16:13) and so, you share your blessings with those in need. Both our worship of God and love for our neighbor are aspects of stewardship which, as I noted last week, is what we do after we say “I believe!” Since you believe in God who has created us in love and called us to love him and our neighbor, you are called to stewardship.
This year, instead of our Annual Parish Census and Collection, I am introducing an Annual Stewardship Appeal. Over the past several years, you heard of stewardship in our parish. More than five years ago, I re-established our Stewardship Committee. Three years ago, the Stewardship Committee hosted a Stewardship Festival which highlighted all of the parish organizations that lead us in worship of God, evangelization and catechesis, community-building, and service. Over the past two years, the Stewardship Committee has helped you to sign up on Flocknote, which allows everyone in the parish to keep updated on parish activities, and Parish Giving, an electronic giving platform that simplifies financial support of your parish.
Now, the Stewardship Committee calls us all to respond to the call to share our treasure. Through this Annual Stewardship Appeal, we invite you to examine how well you are repaying to God what belongs to God. Like the two men in today’s Gospel, we come before God in prayer and worship. Unlike the Pharisee, however, who boasted that he paid tithes on his whole income, we pray, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” And, in thanksgiving for God’s mercy and generous love, we give from the abundance of the gifts he has given to us. It may be a tithe, or more or less, but it comes not as a source of pride but out of gratitude to a gracious and loving God.
If you haven’t yet, you will soon receive my letter introducing the Annual Stewardship Appeal, along with a brochure that highlights the various aspects of this new phase of our stewardship initiative. As you will read in the brochure, our parish has been blessed with a long history. God has provided our parish with so many gifts. As faithful stewards, it is now our job to cultivate these gifts for ourselves and future generations of Catholics that will call St. Katharine of Siena parish their spiritual home. Please read my letter carefully and prayerfully consider how you can contribute to the financial strength of your parish where we gather to worship God and are sent forth to love our neighbor.