Dear Lord God, You alone are the source of every good gift and the mystery of each human life. We thank you for creation and for your tender, faithful love. Fill our minds with the Gospel of your son Jesus and fill our hearts with his compassion. Send your Spirit to grant us wisdom, that our gratitude may bind us together into a community of faith and a caring people. Give us the courage to express ourgratitude first as we discern how to be good stewards of the gifts entrusted to us, that we may do the work for your Kingdom. In your son’s name we pray, Amen!
The St. Therese Stewardship Corner shares weekly stories and reflections on how our parishioners are sharing their gifts.
Last week, Rosemary Adamski gave a wonderful appeal for the Annual Catholic Appeal. She quoted Mother Teresa, “I am a little pencil in the hand of a loving God, who is sending a love letter to the world.” She asked, "What kind of pencil am I and what is the love letter I am in this world? What kind of message is my life projecting and imprinting?"
To be sure, many in our congregation are not happy with how the Archdiocese has chosen to handle the priest shortage, to say nothing of the parishioner shortage. Nonetheless, here are six reasons to support the appeal:
Last Saturday I attended the Catholic Earth Day Summit at Seattle U. It started with Fr. James Martin’s Ten Messages from Laudato Si’: A spiritual perspective of ecology is given. . . .
The point is, you don’t have to be one of the Eleven or take Holy Orders to be important to Jesus. You might even think you can run away from him. He loves you anyway and will come for you.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but everyone for the interests of others. Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who ... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross
So now it’s your turn to take that seed of faith she sowed into you and spread to others. Seeds of love, faith, strength, wisdom hope, grace, humility, joy and so much more.
God sets aside only the proud. The rest of us sinners are all in line.” Pope Francis in an Associated Press Interview in January, quoted by Cindy Wooden on usccb.org