Attempting to define St. Hyacinth as a stewardship parish we must begin with the premise that all that we have are gifts from God and that God, in turn, asks us to be good stewards of these gifts. Our mission as a Church to spread the good news of Jesus Christ is very clear and We, as individuals and together as a parish community, are accountable for nurturing these gifts, while generously sharing them with others—family, friends and others in the community and the world. Faith, Family and Future in action.
A stewardship parish is one where the pastor, other parish leaders and staff seek out and support parishioners in their involvement in the ministries of the parish, while encouraging them to develop a closer relationship with God. We are all encouraged to regularly invite parish members to take part in existing ministries and warmly welcome suggestions for new activities that will help to expand the opportunities for all of us to use and share our God given gifts.
Everyone has an ongoing responsibility to reflect prayerfully, to take stock of his or her God-given gifts and willingly return a generous portion of them to the parish, the local community, and the world. It is the responsibility of a stewardship parish to provide an abundance of activities for individual and group involvement.
We are an “AMEN” church and I am here to encourage every family to contribute through involvement in one of our many ministries. We have a broad range among them: helping the poor through our St. Vincent de Paul Society, or by joining our Parish Social Ministry and Family Life Ministry, or by joining one of our Choirs or offering your musical or vocal talents for Mass. Other groups such as the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Daughters, the Legion of Mary, Couples for Christ, Altar Linen Society, the Men’s Club, the 50+ club are very active and supportive of the parish.
Speaking of support and stewardship, we ask the help of every parishioner through the gift of Stewardship. Stewardship in the Church is thought as the three ‘T’s”: Time, Treasure and Talent. I want to invite everyone to be engaged in the life of the Church through giving their time by serving on a parish committee or ministry, or treasure by generously contributing to the Sunday collection and Faith Direct; of talent through offering the use of your skills to assist in the operation of the parish. Stewardship is about sharing our faith and returning to God a portion of what God has given us.
The 2016 stewardship campaign theme this year is “Faith, Family and Future in Action”. This year we will have Three principal goals of stewardship. The first Goal for our parish community is to recruit more volunteers for our various Parish Liturgical Ministries which include: Music ministry, Choir, Cantors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Readers, Altar Servers, Hospitality Ministers, Acolytes, Linen Ministry, and Ushers.
The second principal goal is to increase the number of people that are contributing to the Church to Faith Direct, our electronic giving platform. We have over 884 registered families here at STHY that maybe giving to our parish in the Sunday collection; however, we don’t have a record of them using their envelopes or Faith Direct. The Church spends close to $10,000 a year to print and mail our parish offertory envelopes. The easiest way for us to significantly reduce these printing expenses is to sign up as many people to Faith Direct. Enrollment forms are available in the Narthex, Church office or you can visit Faith Direct’s secure website at www.faithdirect.net to enroll on line. Our parish code is TX526. As always, know that your generosity is truly a gift from God.
Next, our third goal is to ask every parish family to make a sacrificial gift to the capital campaign. Although every bit helps, we need three-year pledges in the thousands, not the hundreds. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically equip the mission of STHY and to leave a lasting legacy to the next generation. As we celebrate our 51st anniversary consider how we can be a blessing to the next generation.
STHY is a Stewardship Parish. This means that as a parish community we are striving to embrace stewardship as a way of life. Stewardship is the recognition that all we are and possess are gifts from God. It reminds us to keep God first in all aspects of our lives.
As the U.S. bishops remind us in their pastoral letter, “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response,” we are obligated by God’s generosity to “receive God’s gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord. Faith Family and Future is action.
Next weekend, September 17th and 18
th, we will have our Stewardship Ministry Fair Weekend. To continue our stewardship renewal efforts, I want to encourage everyone who is a part of the STHY parish family to pray about how we all will share the gifts of our time, talent and treasure with the Church.