Letter from Father Eilerman
Dear parishioners,
“Are you envious because I am generous?” These words from this Sunday’s Gospel remind us of the boundless generosity of our God. The Gospel readings the past two Sundays invited us to reflect on God’s mercy, God’s willingness to always forgive us. In turn, we are to be as forgiving with each other as God is with us. This Sunday we reflect on God’s generosity, how he desires to give us every good gift no matter when we respond to his invitation to share in his life of grace. As we are to be forgiving, as God is forgiving with us, so we are to be as generous with each other as God is generous with us.
This generosity is practiced in the sharing of three resources: time, talent, and treasure. The first step in emulating God’s generosity is to recognize our time, talent, and treasure are gifts given to us by God. We are not the owner of these resources, but stewards of them. They are by their nature to be shared. It is in the gifting of these resources to others that we find meaning and contentment in our lives. In her song The Rose, Bette Midler sings “It’s the one who won’t be taken, who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live”. In sharing our time, talent, and treasure, we are living out the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of Christ in our life. It’s this mystery that is at the center of our lives as followers of Christ.
Thank you to all who made a gift this year to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. While we have not reached our goal yet, we are in striking distance. Where we need parishioners to step up is with the weekly offertory. As you can see in the stewardship update below, we are $44,829.78 below our budgeted need and we are only in the 11th week of the fiscal year. These are indeed uncertain times, and not all can continue to give as they did before the pandemic. With that being said, it is vitally important that if possible, every parishioner continues to support the parish. This is true even if you are taking advantage of the dispensation and not attending Sunday Mass. Without this support, cuts will need to be made in the budget. This will result in a loss of ministries and programs both in the parish and the school.
Let us continue to pray for each other.
Father Craig R. Eilerman
Pastor
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