Dear Parishioners,
As the month of September begins, we celebrate Labor Day, which has come to represent the last three-day weekend of vacation, the end of summer, and the beginning of the school year, and let us not forget the must- attend spectacular fireworks on the riverfront. Labor Day was, at one time, a day set aside to appreciate those whose hard, physical labor made our nation strong. It was seen as a day of stewardship and an acknowledge-ment of the value of the use of our time, talent and treasure. Our weekly offering comes from our labor. It is our way of acknowledging God, who gave us our stewardship over His creation.
Labor Day used to be a day of great parades in all the cities, as union members walked proudly before their fami-lies. Labor was seen as good work that gave us the material necessities and comforts to live our graced lives. But work is actually so much more than that. It embodies our share of creating in the world in which God has given us so much responsibility. We are all workers in God‘s kingdom. There is no retirement from discipleship. Our stewardship is how we manage all that God has given us. Your offering of time, talent, and treasure is our human way of saying ―Thank You!‖
Labor Day celebrates what we have done in order to be able to care for others. Do you really believe that God will provide for you and your family needs? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us:
―Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap. For the measure you measure with will in return be measured out to you‖ (Luke 6:38).
God is generous, giving, loving, forgiving, and gracious. God desires our loving response to God‘s generosity. In reading books on stewardship, what stands out for me is the personal witness of the writer, who has been the recipient of God‘s generosity. I have not always given generously to God through the church (that changed when I became Pastor here), but I have been generously blessed.
When I have acted faithfully and responsively, God has provided. Stewardship is a way of life for me, giving thanks for all that God has given me – my time, my talent and my treasure…stewardship is the way I measure all that has been given to me. Nothing of value happens in my life without these three currencies. Nothing of value happens in the life of a church without these three currencies. Some think of stewardship as what we give, or return, to God for God‘s work through the church.
For me, stewardship is my decision as to how I live and manage my entire life. What any of us returns to God through the church is only a part of our stewardship. We are given by God the freedom to manage all of our time, talent and treasure. We strive to discern the mind of Christ as we work to become the hands of Christ.
From the perspective of one who considers himself a fairly good Christian, I look at Labor Day as truly a celebra-tion of that kind of work…becoming Christ‘s hands and laboring in love for others.
Enjoy the season that is upon us, and I ask you to please give every consideration to seeing stewardship as the way to measure all that has been given to you…
In His Peace,
Fr. Jan
P.S. I hope to see you at the 9:00 a.m. Mass on Labor Day Morning….let us together give thanks to God for the value of the work he has given us, the jobs we possess and we pray also for those who are without work.
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