“Go, make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19). After Jesus overcame death by his Resurrection, he did not just return to heaven to sit at the right of the Father. Before ascending to the Father, he commissioned those who had come to believe in him to make disciples, that is, others who would come to believe in the one, true God and his son, Jesus, who came to save us. That is the ongoing mission of the Church; we are the blessed beneficiaries of this missionary outreach down through the ages. And we, in turn, are commissioned to continue this mission both here in our own neighborhood and around the world. So, today, we join with the universal Church in rededicating ourselves to this essential work of the Church.
Another important aspect of mission is stewardship. Stewardship is what you do after you say “I believe!” If you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became the son of Mary to show us God’s love in person, who died and rose to life to offer us new life, then you are called to stewardship. Jesus taught us about God and God’s Kingdom. He taught us how to pray and worship God. He taught that the most important commandments were to love God and love our neighbor. And, he showed us – by his own actions – what he meant. He worshiped in the Temple. He gathered a community around him and shared God’s love with them. He fed the hungry and cured the sick. He gave of his treasure to care for the poor. He sacrificed himself, day in and day out, for the good of the people around him. He gave himself to us at the Last Supper and then he sacrificed himself on the cross for us and all of humanity, from the beginning of time until the end of the age. In all of these ways, he, who, as God, shared with the Father in creating the universe, as a man was a steward, using his time, talent and treasure to introduce the Kingdom of God in our midst.
And then, having completed his mission, as he prepared to return to the right hand of God, his heavenly Father, he commanded his disciples to “go make disciples of all nations.” As I noted above, his command is given to us, as well. We are all called by name, at our baptism, to participate in the mission of the Church, which is essentially building God’s kingdom here on earth as we prepare to go to his kingdom in heaven. And, in every generation, we need to invite people to share in this call. Today, Mission Sunday, we recognize this call that we receive at our baptism.
But, stewardship focuses us on this call every day. Once we admit that everything we have is a gift from God, given to us not for our own benefit alone but to share generously with those around us, we seek to find opportunities to share our time, treasure and talent. We are called to live out our faith, using our time and talent for the building up of our parish – God’s kingdom in our midst – through both worship of God and love of neighbor. Whether it’s lectoring or singing in the choir, bringing Holy Communion to the homebound or preparing casseroles for Mercy Hospice or frozen dinners for Aid for Friends, helping in a wide variety of ways at our school or in our PREP, offering your expertise on our Pastoral Council or Finance Council, Home and School Board or Board of Limited Jurisdiction, getting involved in CYO or our outreach to our sister parish, St. Martin de Porres or in any of our parish social programs and activities, there are lots of ways for all of our parishioners to use their time and talent for the good of our faith community.
We are also called to share our treasure. Many of you do so and, in the name of your fellow parishioners and all of the other archdiocesan and worldwide institutions you support with your generosity, I thank you. As you will see on the brochure that will accompany my letter for our Annual Stewardship Appeal that is being mailed to each parish household, the cumulative amount given to support the parish each year is approximately $4.3 million. In addition to that, contributions to all of the other extra-parochial collections taken up throughout the year total approximately $300,000 annually. So, I thank you for your ongoing support of our thriving parish and the work of the Church throughout the country and, indeed, around the world. And, I call on you to prayerfully review how you can contribute your treasure to this very important Annual Appeal. It may be a tithe, or more or less, but may it come out of gratitude to a gracious and loving God.
Most parishioners use their weekly envelopes to make their contributions. A growing number of you, however, are using electronic funds transfers; about 390 families do so. This allows you to support your parish even when you’re not able to join us for worship and provides your parish with a more reliable source of income. In order to make it easier for you to participate in electronic giving, we offer the option to contribute on our website through Parish Giving, a company that is used by dozens of parishes throughout our Archdiocese. Parish Giving allows you more control over your contributions, including the ease of giving with your credit card as well as a bank account.
In the name of your fellow parishioners, I want to thank you for your continued generosity in sharing your time, talent and treasure here in the parish. And, especially this weekend, I thank you for your generous support of the missionary work of the Church. May God bless you as you practice good stewardship in your daily lives; more on this next week!
“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pt 4:10).