Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

September 12, 2017

by Fr. Reginald Samuels

Twenty – Forth Week in Ordinary Time

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

The United States Council of Catholic Bishops defined Stewardship as:
“A Christian Steward is one who receives God's gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible manner, shares them in justice and love with others, and returns them with increase tithe Lord.”

Stewardship is a way of life, a life of responsibility acknowledging God as Creator and Giver of all. Stewards as disciples of Jesus Christ see themselves as caretakers of all God's gifts. Gratitude for these gifts is expressed in prayer, worship, offering and action by eagerly sharing our gifts out of love for God and one another.

Stewardship is based on the spiritual principles of the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. Stewardship is not just a program, or a method of fundraising, it is a way of thanking God for all His blessings by returning a portion of the time, talent, and treasure we have each received. Stewardship is about our love for God.

Stewardship is a path to holiness. It makes us more like Christ who came not to be served, but to serve. It is a grateful awareness that all we have and all we are comes freely from God. When we offer our lives back to God in love, He blesses that generosity a hundredfold.

Here is what the Scriptures say about stewardship:

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.
—1 Peter 4:10

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given you besides.

The Gospel of Matthew 6:33

You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.
—Micah 6:8

There are several questions that we all are called to reflect on:

What resources, talents, and abilities has God given me? Do I use my time, talents and treasure in service to others?

If I am to work to be an effective Christian steward, with the help of God's love, what will it cost me in terms of personal sacrifice and hardship? Am I willing to sacrifice for God?
How can I be of help to others in recognizing and using the gifts of time, talent and treasure that they've been given?

There are four main goals for our Stewardship and ministry fair weekend and the first Goal for our parish community is to recruit more volunteers for our various Liturgical Ministries which include: Music ministry, Cantors, Choir, 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 886 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 to print out and mail our parish envelopes each year. 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 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.

And finally, we need to address the ongoing issues and problems of the Adoration Chapel. People are simply not showing up for adoration. We need to ensure that the Blessed Sacrament is secure. During this time, we are recruiting Adoration coordinators and adorers for the Chapel. Please sign up at the Stewardship/ministry fair and or come by and call the parish office. The Adoration Chapel will go back to a 24 hour 7 day a week schedule when we have the Chapel coordinators and adores in place.

God Bless,
Fr. Reginald

God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels