It's a strange series of questions, but let me ask them anyway. Is being a son or a daughter something you do or is it something you are? Is being a daughter or son something that takes place only when you do something with mom or dad... or... is being son or daughter something you are, for as long as you live? Following the same inner logic, is being a disciple of Jesus something you do each Sunday, when you come to Mass... or... is being a disciple defined by the way you live your life? Is love a task completed (checked off the to-do list, like groceries and gas) or is it a relationship to be lived?
In my last two weekly columns, I've tried to share with you the beauty of a spirituality of stewardship. This "way of living your life"... stewardship... is the way of living a disciple's life. Translation: being a good steward of the gifts given is being a follower of the Lord Jesus, who is THE gift given.
I've asked you to consider the gift of time, the living out of your life as gift. I've asked you to consider the gifts of your talents, the sharing of your very self. This weekend, I ask you to consider the gifts of your treasure. I need to discuss this with each of you, for the parish has great need of every gift: your time, your talents and your treasure.
There are four areas of financial need that each of us is called to think about as the parish family of SJN: First, there are the Lord's poor. Do you offer a portion of your income to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, here at SJN? Second, there is our offertory, the dollars that go to pay our bills, for staff, supplies, and utilities. Have you offered your share of finances to the week-by-week offertory? Third, we are members of the Archdiocese, the Church of Atlanta and north Georgia. Have you supported the Archbishop's Annual Appeal? This calendar year (2009), we are about $44,000 behind the goal given us by Archbishop Gregory. This deficit will have to be paid from our operating expenses if it is not made up (within a month); and in October, the new 2010 Annual Appeal will begin. Have you assisted the Archbishop, with the expenses of training our seminarians, our deacons? Fourth, are you keeping up with your redemption of the pledge made in our Building a Legacy of Faith project? We are building a beautiful new Church, and will need a 100% redemption return of all the pledges made.
Stewardship... the management of the gifts received... is a way of life, a spirituality. It is how a disciple of the Lord Jesus lives and gives. It's not a onetime doing; it's a life-time of giving, in imitation of the One that gave us everything He had.
AMDG
Msgr. David Talley
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|