Dear Parishioners,
Shortly after arriving in St. Monica Parish in 2019, I became aware of our parish’s giving garden. I learned that students and families in our parish and school ministry work as volunteers to grow food. The food is distributed to the local food pantry that we support, as well as to parish families. As I walked around the garden I saw how rainwater was collected in barrels to provide water for the plants. I learned about how the different plants were chosen to provide ecological benefits as well as food for consumption and learned how they embraced composting food waste to renew the nutrients of the land. It was a wonderful introduction to the garden and helped to quickly embrace and support its mission of education and responsible gardening and care for the environment.
In the rectory, I learned that we already had a trash can that was used to compost. I began to place in the trash can my used coffee grounds, egg shells, and various remaining vegetables and fruit turning bad as it began to rot. I did so with great enthusiasm thinking that I was contributing to the giving garden. As time passed the can was pretty full. One morning I rolled it over to the garden to be used as nutrients for soil of the garden. I wheeled over the very heavy garbage can and presented it to Melanie. As best as I can remember, she looked at me and asked, “What is it?” I told her, with a little bit of pride and excitement, that it was the composting food waste from the rectory. After she looked at the contents, she looked at me with compassion and then she gently told me that it was not really compost. Composting requires a process that helps the decomposing food to be converted into fertilizer. It was a great learning experience for me.
How often do we do things a particular way because that is the way we have always done them? How often are we driven by habits without reflecting on the habit or action? As disciples and stewards of all that God has blessed us with, how often have we acted out of long-practiced habits without reflecting on if there is a better or different way to respond to God? As good stewards of God’s blessings, we are called to give back to God in gratitude for all that God has given us. This month, I invite each of us to take some time to reflect on our faith life and our community life. How many of the ways we share ourselves with God and our community has become a habit without ongoing reflection? Perhaps God is calling us to a new ministry. Perhaps our hearts are longing to explore new ways of praying or more time in prayer. Perhaps it is time to pray with and reflect upon how we use the treasure in our life. Do I use it in a way that reflects my current values and priorities? Has my sharing of my treasure with my Church and other good charities been influenced by prayer and change in my economic situation or is it still following longtime habits?
Every year, our parish has an annual stewardship renewal because it invites each of us to prayerfully discern how this current moment in my life calls me to respond to God in gratitude and generosity. Our annual stewardship renewal is coming up in September. Let us begin to prepare our hearts by recognizing the blessings in our life, thanking God for them, inviting God and His grace into our hearts and lives, and for the Holy Spirit to guide each of us. God is composting in us to provide the nutrients that our community of St. Monica needs to be who we are called to be.
Have a blessed August!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. John P. McCaslin