Fr. Michael Troha: The Meaning of Life

Posted on August 12, 2010

About a year ago, I was asked to lead a stewardship retreat at a parish in the Orlando, Fla., area. After arriving at the Orlando airport, I went to the rental car counter and got in line to get my car for the weekend. The agent quickly got me through the process of finding the reservation, initialing, agreeing, and signing where necessary.

When all was completed, she asked me, “Do you have any questions?”

I said to her, “Yes, I do. What is the meaning of life?”

She looked at me in a bit of a funny way and answered, “When you wake up in the morning, realize that each day is a blessing.”

[Read more…]

Msgr. Thomas McGread: Stewardship Prayer

Posted on August 11, 2010

Stewardship Prayer

Lord, You alone are the source of every good gift,
of the vast array of our universe,
and the mystery of each human life.
We praise You and we thank You
for Your great power and your tender, faithful LOVE.
Everything we are and everything we have is Your gift,
and after having created us,
You have given us into the keeping of Your Son,
JESUS CHRIST.
Fill our minds with His truth
And our hearts with His love,
that in His Spirit
we may be bonded together into a community
of faithful, caring people.
In the Name and Spirit of Jesus,
we commit ourselves to be good stewards
of the gifts entrusted to us,
to share our time, our talent
and our material gifts as an outward sign
of the Treasure we hold in Jesus.
Amen

Stewardship Reflections on Lectionary Readings – August 15, 2010

Posted on August 10, 2010

Aug. 15, 2010 – Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Vigil Mass: 1 Samuel 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2; Psalm 132; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57; Luke 11:27-28

Mass during the Day: Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10; Psalm 45; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56

The Blessed Virgin Mary, our bishops tell us, is not only the model Christian disciple but also the model Christian steward. As we celebrate her Assumption – which prefigures our own reception into heaven at the general resurrection on the Last Day – let us consider how she models the Christian life for us.

As Jesus was preaching one day, we read in Luke 11, a woman in the crowd, impressed by his powerful words, exclaimed, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” Of course, she was right – any woman who was the mother of the Son of God would be privileged indeed!

[Read more…]

Fr. Allan McDonald: A Pure Stewardship Mission

Posted on August 5, 2010

God created everything, that which is visible and invisible. Our Catholic Faith places an emphasis not only on the invisible realities of spirituality, but also on the visible and tangible realities of spirituality. For example, the sacraments of the Church are very “materialistic” in the positive sense. We use water, oil, bread, wine, incense, music, art, fabric, flowers, gold, brass, marble, wood and everything else to show forth the invisible, to make God more tangible and real, especially God’s action in the world through Jesus Christ.

Some Christians, such as the Puritans, were very leery of the Catholic Church’s emphasis on elaborate liturgies, fine churches, vestments, and all the other accoutrements we use in our liturgies. They wanted a simple, stark and sterile spirituality. In a sense, they were opposed to the body and the material, seeing it as evil or imperfect, while the invisible realities of faith were to be savored as good and holy.

[Read more…]

Stewardship Reflections on Lectionary Readings – August 8, 2010

Posted on August 3, 2010

August 8, 2010 —Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 or 11:1-2, 8-12; Luke 12:32-48 or 12:35-40

Once again Jesus shocked his hearers, and he continues to shock us today: “Sell your belongings and give alms.” That sounds reckless and goes against all we have heard about financial planning.

But then Jesus goes on to talk about real wealth, “Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.” An inexhaustible treasure, safe where no one can steal it from us! And because it’s in heaven, we don’t have to worry about leaving it to someone who might spend it foolishly (Ecclesiastes 2:21) or worry that God will prevent us from keeping it all for ourselves (Luke 12:16-21).

[Read more…]

Deacon Don McArdle: Surveying Our Parish

Posted on July 29, 2010

As the leaders of a stewardship parish, we are charged to foster a community of disciples. It is not as though as the leaders we must simply direct our fellow parishioners as to what they ought to do. Rather, we are called to serve them, to help them grow in faith, and to help them better serve the Lord. We want our parish to be thriving. We want stewardship to be lived out in the lives of our parishioners and, in turn, for stewardship to fuel everything we do as a parish. But this does not begin with some abstract idea about how stewardship should be lived at our particular parishes. Rather, it begins with the God-given gifts of our parishioners.

[Read more…]

Stewardship Reflections on Lectionary Readings – August 1, 2010

Posted on July 27, 2010

August 1, 2010 — Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Psalm 90; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13-21

How could Jesus say what’s reported in the reading from chapter 12 of St. Luke’s Gospel? It sounds like he’s attacking a major foundation of society. “Though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

But it’s not riches that are being attacked, but the attitude that views them as important only for one’s own personal use and trusts in them as the source of security. The response of a good steward is the best antidote to the spiritual poison of the grasping position taken by the rich man in Jesus’ parable.

One aspect of the lesson presented in these Scripture passages is stated clearly in the reading from Ecclesiastes. If you have labored hard and accumulated much, you have no control over what will be done with what you leave behind after you die. And the effort of accumulating a vast sum tends to bring stress and anxiety to your life.

[Read more…]

Fr. Dave Zimmer: “Coincidental” Stewardship

Posted on July 22, 2010

The famous author Gilbert K. Chesterton supposedly once said, “Coincidences are God’s way of staying anonymous.” Some have told me they have no time for coincidences and even regard them as unimportant. There may have been a time when I might have agreed with them. But since a “conversion” to the stewardship way of life, coincidences have become cherished experiences for which I thank God. And rightly so! While God stays anonymous, coincidences are ways God interacts with the world He created. Are we not grateful for this mysterious intervention?

I first read this quote in The Catholic Spirit, the diocesan newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The article was about an acquaintance of mine from the seminary. Fr. Peter Christianson had been a few years ahead of me, but now had been named and ordained a bishop assigned to the Diocese of Superior, Wis. He recalled G.K. Chesterton’s quote at his ordination to the episcopacy and, since then, I also have relied on the wisdom of that statement. When it comes to the stewardship way of life, that statement couldn’t be truer.

[Read more…]

Stewardship Reflections on Lectionary Readings – July 25, 2010

Posted on July 21, 2010

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13

Effective stewardship in a parish is the result of many factors. There are many people who think they’ll have success if they can just find the right combination of tools and techniques, and so they’re always searching for the latest novelty in stewardship methods.

But real stewardship – faithfulness in the right use of the gifts God has entrusted to us – is not the result of quick-fix solutions. It comes from the long-term practice of sound spiritual principles. Among these is prayer, so basic that it has been identified as one of the pillars of parish stewardship. Prayer is the major topic of these readings from Genesis and Luke.

After accepting the hospitality offered by Abraham, God reveals to him the plan to annihilate Sodom because of the sin of its residents. Abraham responds by pleading with God to spare the city if enough righteous men can be found in it. God agrees, and Abraham proceeds to progressively reduce the number of the righteous needed for God to withhold his destruction, from fifty down to ten. Despite the impression that a quick reading of the narrative may give, it is not a matter of “nagging” God. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2571) puts it, “Abraham’s heart is attuned to his Lord’s compassion for men and he dares to intercede for them with bold confidence.”

Likewise in the parable of the importunate friend in the reading from Luke, Jesus tells us that urgency and persistence are two of the hallmarks of strong prayer. Prayer must be urgent, like the request of the man who has a guest who needs something to eat now. And his persistence in asking is reflected in Jesus’ teaching, “To the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

[Read more…]

Fr. Michael Troha: Answering the Call to Serve

Posted on July 15, 2010

Recently, I was elected by the members of the Priest Retirement Board for the Diocese of Cleveland to be the chairman of this group for the next two years. I didn’t want to be chairman of the board. In fact, at the last meeting, when it was time to make nominations, I quickly nominated someone else so that I would not be chosen. However, the other priest refused the nomination and then quickly nominated me instead. No one else would even accept a nomination.

I, too, wanted to refuse. But before the meeting began, I was conversing with the other priests, and we all shared an opinion that, in our parishes, we have people willing to volunteer, but very few who are willing to accept leadership positions within parish ministries. How could I criticize others for doing something that I myself am guilty of? So that is how I got elected.

[Read more…]

Stewardship Reflections on Lectionary Readings – July 18, 2010

Posted on July 14, 2010

July 18, 2010 — Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Genesis 18:1-1 0a; Psalm 15; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42

The Old Testament reading from Genesis and the Gospel reading from Luke bring out one of the great themes of stewardship – hospitality. What does this have to do with stewardship?

Stewardship includes sharing with others the gifts God has entrusted to us, the U.S. bishops remind us in Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response. In response to what God has shared with us, we in turn share with those around us, both old familiar friends and neighbors and with those new to us. God invites all people into his Church, the People of God. As his disciples, we ought to follow his example and carry out his will – thus we have the responsibility to welcome all people into the fellowship of the Church.

[Read more…]

Msgr. P. James Costigan: Formation — Transformed Through Christ

Posted on July 9, 2010

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a five-part series by Msgr. Jim Costigan on The Pillars of Parish Stewardship.

“Jesus not only calls people to him but also forms them and sends them out in his service.” — From Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response

For my latest in this series on The Pillars of Parish Stewardship, we take a closer look at the second pillar: formation. Formation is the process of studying Christ’s teachings and incorporating them deeply into our lives. It is a lifelong effort by which we “put on Christ” (Rom 13:14) and are “transformed by the renewal of our minds” (Rom 12:2).

[Read more…]

Stewardship Reflections on Lectionary Readings – July 11, 2010

Posted on July 6, 2010

July 11, 2010 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Psalm 69; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37

The portion of St. Luke’s Gospel we read in 10:25-37 contains one of the most familiar of all parables, that of the Good Samaritan. We all know the story Jesus told: a traveler is mugged, beaten and robbed on his journey from Jerusalem to Jericho; the respected religious leaders of his own people pass him by without caring for him; a Samaritan, a member of a hostile community, stops, helps him, and takes him where he can receive further care.

[Read more…]

Deacon Don McArdle: We Are All Fishers of Men

Posted on July 1, 2010

Imagine for just a moment that you are one of the first disciples. This is not an easy task. After all, we cannot truly fathom what it was like to live in Galilee 2,000 years ago as Jesus walked the earth. But let’s take a moment and put ourselves in the place of Simon, Andrew, James and John – the first four disciples Jesus called.

Employers in the fishing industry, a major business of the time, these four men were engaged in a hard day’s work when Jesus approached them.

“As He passed by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and His brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.’ Then they left their nets and followed Him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then He called them, so they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed Him” (Mk. 1:16-20). [Read more…]

Stewardship Reflections on Lectionary Readings – July 4, 2010

Posted on June 30, 2010

July 4, 2010 – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66:10-14c; Psalm 66; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12,17-20 or Luke 10:1-9

The teaching Jesus gives in Luke 10 can provide a serious challenge to even the most vocal advocate of Christian stewardship. Jesus tells not just to believe that God loves us and provides what we need. No, mere belief is not enough; we have to show we believe it by the way we live.

We all know that the foundation of stewardship is gratitude for all the gifts that God has given us. Our faith is that God does love us, and he gives us many gifts to provide for our needs. That doesn’t negate human effort, for a loaf of bread shows much labor in growing the grain, harvesting it, grinding it into meal or flour, and baking it. But even there, the life in the seed, all that goes into the growing – sunlight and rain and air and soil – the strength to work, are gifts from God.

But for those who truly trust him, God urges them to show that trust by walking without a money bag or a suitcase. In today’s economy, maybe Jesus would tell us not to bother with a credit card. Our way of life should exhibit our faith that “The kingdom of God is at hand for you.” [Read more…]