Dear Friends in Christ,
Our first reading and Gospel this coming weekend are striking in their gravity. The Lord has much to say for the “complacent” man and the “rich man… who dined sumptuously each day, all the while lying at his door was a poor man.” We can be tempted, based on the fates of these men, to turn to the old adage of “money is the root of all evil,” to understand what the Lord is saying to us here. However, that could not be further from the truth. Money is one of the many gifts God gives us so that we can build up His kingdom on earth. The men from our readings confined themselves and its use to “wanton revelry” and an utter disregard for their neighbor instead. They failed in their stewardship of the great gifts they were given. Far from a message of fear or despair, these readings serve as an invitation for us to consider all the good the Lord has done for us and to reflect on how we are to respond to his goodness. These readings are timely as today, I would like to talk about stewardship.
Stewardship is the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives God’s gifts, shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor, and returns them with increase to the Lord. In the weeks to come, our own parish will be participating in an offertory program called “Beyond Sunday Morning,” which has three goals:
1.To encourage intentional, sustained giving in our entire community in gratitude for God’s blessings
2.To help our parishioners move to our online giving platform, and
3.To invite you to prayerfully consider increasing your financial sacrifice to our parish community
The Scriptures lay out a beautiful vision for the spiritual fruits of financial giving, and you will be hearing more about this over the coming weeks, as well as an update on our parish’s finances. This week, you will be receiving a letter in the mail with more information regarding this important initiative in our parish! In addition, attached, you will find the “Catholic Giving Guide”, which I hope you will work through with your family and in prayer with the Lord to ask Him how He is inviting you to be intentional and generous with your finances. Please know of my deep gratitude for the many sacrifices you make for our parish – in all forms! I hope that the next few weeks serve as an opportunity for all of us to continue learning how God invites us to give our “first fruits” to Him in love and gratitude.
In Christ,
Rev Jacob Thumma
