Stewardship Sermon
“What return can I make to the Lord for all the goodness he has given to me?” -- Psalm 116:12
Bishop Robert Moreau says the question in Psalm 116, verse 12, haunts him every day. The auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, says, “I have a dream that I die and the Lord says, ‘Moreau, you were an eight-cylinder car and you only used two cylinders.”
Stewardship, according to the bishop, is about realizing how gifted one is and then properly using all the “cylinders” – all our time, talent and worldly treasure – in the right proportion. He says, “The core of stewardship is gratitude – a gratitude that overflows into giving as a way of thankfulness for all that God has given us.”
Stewardship is really about gratitude.
Let’s face it … for most Catholics, when they hear the word “stewardship,” they immediately think “it’s all about the money.” For many of us, when the priest (or the deacon) starts talking about the need for a “grateful heart,” the eyes glaze over, the ears shut down, and the brain thinks “how much money does that man think we have?”
But Stewardship isn’t a scheme to bring in more money or volunteers. It’s not a “program” or a “campaign.” Stewardship is a Way of Life – where stewards start to look at everything good as a gift from God.
Out of gratitude, Stewardship is about giving back. It’s about offering up our grateful heart to our Heavenly Father. It’s about giving back to God a portion of the many good gifts - our Time, Talent and Treasure – He has blessed us with.
This weekend, we will have the opportunity to do that. We will have the opportunity to honor and thank God with the Gift of our Time and our Talent.
But first, I invite you to watch this presentation. (This is where we Played the Parish Video.)
There are 1700 registered families in our parish – about 4,000 individuals. However, only about 1200 parishioners come to church regularly.
Today, we invite you to make a commitment to give God a Gift of your TIME by attending mass weekly and by setting aside an hour of your time during the week in worship and prayer.
Remember, God gives each of us 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. While each of us will be given a different number of days on this earth, time remains our most valuable commodity.
If we want to spend eternity with God, we better start spending time with Him now – and all God is asking is at least an hour of our time during the week.
Out of the 1200 parishioners who come to church regularly, only about 400 are involved in a parish ministry.
There’s a constant need for new members and new volunteers. Yes - we rely on the help of God but we also rely on the help of people.
We invite you to make a commitment to give God a Gift of your TALENT in service to our parish family - by being involved in one of our parish ministries.
If you are involved already, please recommit yourself or maybe, be adventuresome, explore another ministry, join another group.
For those of us who are not involved, please consider joining a ministry that you think best suit your skills and talents.
There’s a form on the pews and I ask you to prayerfully fill it out.
You can bring the form over to the respective ministry table at the hall after mass.
We have refreshments and our parish leaders and ministers are there to welcome you and help you with any questions you may have.
Thank you so much and God bless you all!
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