“My God will fully supply whatever you need. …To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians. 4: 19-20). In today’s second reading, we hear a passage from St. Paul’s letter to the first European Christian community, located in Philippi, Greece. He is thanking them for providing him with much-needed financial assistance as he continued his missionary journey through northern Europe. As you know, the Church spread throughout the region as a result of his tireless efforts of proclaiming the gospel to people who needed to hear it. And, you will notice that he ends with a glorious praise of God: “To our God and Father, glory forever and ever.” And so, as we prepare to celebrate Stewardship Sunday next weekend, I invite you to reflect on how we can all be better stewards, using our time, talent and treasure to proclaim the gospel as we build up God’s kingdom right here in our midst, giving God glory and honor.
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. And, we rejoice that his Son has given us his life-giving Body and Blood to nourish us on our journey.
Over the past three years, our Parish’s Pastoral Plan has directed us to engage in three priorities: transformative liturgies, increased parishioner engagement and faith sharing. Responding to God’s first commandment to love him above all things, we are committed to helping everyone in our parish grow in their love of God by offering vibrant and engaging Eucharistic celebrations through which we glorify our God. We also want to encourage more parishioners to get involved in our many parish organizations and activities that draw us all into a holy communion with God and each other. Additionally, we are eager to lead an ever-growing number of parishioners into a deeper relationship with our Lord while equipping them to share our faith with others, expanding God’s reach within our community.
God’s second commandment is to love one another. 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).
Finally, we hear our risen Lord command his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations, …teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19,20). We who have experienced Jesus’ saving work in our lives are called to share our faith with those around us and lead them to an ever-deepening encounter with our Lord.
Next weekend, we will, once again, observe Stewardship Sunday as we kick off our Annual Stewardship Appeal. Stewardship is what we do once we say “I believe.” As we grow in our faith we need to ensure that all of our resources, including our treasure, are adequate for this essential work of worshiping God, caring for the needy and sharing our faith. I want to thank you for your generous past response and ask you to prayerfully consider how you can even more generously provide the financial support we need to accomplish our mission as a parish. As you have experienced increased costs at home and work, we are experiencing increased costs to pay the salaries and benefits of our 52 parish and school staff members as well as for the maintenance of all of our beautiful facilities that are used by so many organizations and activities to accomplish the mission of our parish: to worship God and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.
If you haven’t yet, you will soon receive my Annual Stewardship Appeal letter, along with a brochure that highlights the ways in which we are worshiping our God, engaging our fellow parishioners and sharing our faith. As faithful stewards, it is our privilege to worship God and share the precious gift of our faith. Please read my letter carefully and prayerfully consider how you can increase your contribute to insure the financial strength of your parish where we gather to worship God and are sent forth to love our neighbor and proclaim our love for our Lord.