“Please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth.” (2 Kings. 5:17). What a curious request we hear at the end of this Sunday’s first reading. Elisha, the great prophet in Israel, had just cured Naaman, the great army commander of the Arameans, of leprosy. Why would Namaan want this pile of earth from Israel? You will recall that the people at that time believed in local gods. They believed that these local gods ruled over particular lands. That’s why various Old Testament books speak of the gods of the Hittites, the Amorites and the Canaanites. Naaman was so taken by the miracle performed for him by the God of the Israelites that he wanted this God to feel at home in Damascus, where Namaan lived. He hoped that, by building a temple to this new God of Israel in Damascus on this soil from Israel, the God of Israel would come to reside there.
Of course, we know that our God is the God of all the universe. He is not a local god, limited to one place but is the Creator and Ruler of all. In the Nicene Creed that we recite every Sunday, we affirm that we believe in one God, maker of all things visible and invisible. We gather here in this local church to worship the one, true God who acts in ordinary and extraordinary – even miraculous – ways at all times and all places. So, like Naaman, we come before God to thank and praise him for all that he does and ask for his care according to his will for us.
God has called us to be stewards of the world that he created and particularly, this community of faith. 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 good news of God’s care and love as we build up God’s kingdom right here in our midst, giving God glory and honor.
This is especially important this year as we join with the Universal Church in celebrating a Jubilee Year when we are called to be Pilgrims of Hope. At a time when it is easy to become despondent and feel hopeless, we are messengers of hope because we believe that through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus, God has overcome the forces of evil in this world and established his kingdom firmly in our midst. Over the past four years, our Parish’s Pastoral Plan has directed us to be messengers of hope in three particular ways: through transformative liturgies, increased parishioner engagement and faith sharing.
Having experienced God’s saving power in our own lives, we are filled with hope. And so, we invite everyone to experience a sense of true hope by offering vibrant and engaging Eucharistic celebrations through which we thank our God for his unending care for us. We also want to encourage more parishioners to get involved in our many parish organizations and activities that lead us to be signs of hope for one another and everyone we serve. 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 the message of hope in God throughout our community.
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 the hope that our faith provides. 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 experience 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. My letter also highlights some of the projects we hope to address with the funds collected through the Annual Stewardship Appeal. As faithful stewards, it is our privilege to worship God and share the precious gift of hope our faith offers us. 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 and proclaim our love for our God and our hope in salvation through his son, Jesus.