Apocalyptic language is a message of hope.

Autumn now seems to be giving a hint of the winter to come. Many leaves have fallen and others are continuing to fall.  There seems to be more cold darkness as the days grow shorter.  Additionally, the liturgy calls us to consider the end times as we approach the end of the liturgical year.  The first reading from Daniel and the Gospel from Mark uses very apocalyptic language designed to be sensational.  “The sun will be darkened.  The stars will be falling from heaven and the power in the heavens will be shaken.”

They speak of the breakdown of the stable parts of our surroundings.  Yet, apocalyptic language is a message of hope.  Why?  Because Jesus has triumphed over sin and evil.  The ultimate victory belongs to Jesus.  Even though it seems like our world is falling apart, for those who trust in Jesus, the message is always one of hopefulness.

Even before the ultimate end times, all of us at one time or another experience our life being shattered;            

                --we lost our job;

    --our spouse proved unfaithful;

                --we fell into a habit of sinfulness.

                --we learned we were ill;

                --we lost someone dear to us.

Our world fell apart—the sun was darkened; the moon lost its brightness.

But you did not abandon us, Lord God.   In the midst of turmoil, we received a great grace.  We understood for the first time the meaning of our faith.  We discovered inner resources we didn’t know we had; friends rallied around us.

The Gospel calls us to learn a lesson from the fig tree.  Even in the midst of the deep winter of our lives, the twigs on the fig tree have become supple indicating that summer is near.  In the big picture, before this generation has passed away, new and wonderful things will have taken place.

Lord, prayer is trusting totally in your love, knowing with unshakeable confidence that heaven and earth will certainly pass away, but your love for us will not pass away.

Jesus makes it very clear that we do not know when the end will come; of that day or that hour no one knows.  Our task is to act as the people who have been given the responsibility to use creation well, to act as good stewards, and to remember that when we abuse creation, we are breaking God’s fundamental loving trust is us. The creation is God’s; we have been entrusted with it; we are called to be good stewards. 

In our parish, we are beginning a two week cycle of stewardship.  We are inviting all of us to consider the commitment we make in helping us as a parish community to celebrate the spiritual dimension of our lives – the ways we give thanks to the Lord our God in prayer for the blessings of our lives.  We reflect on what it would mean for us to become more than a “one-hour a week” Catholic.  What commitment are you called to make to build our parish community so that we better serve one another and how we witness to the love of Jesus in our community?

What is stewardship?  It is a very biblical word.  From the first pages of the Book of Genesis, we all called to be stewards of God’s creation.  In the sacrament of Baptism, we are missioned to witness to the love of Jesus in the world.  We do this by a stewardship of time, talent, and treasure.

The stewardship of time is our prayer life.  Is prayer a part of our daily lives?  How do we pray? Do we come to Church to participate in our Eucharistic Adoration?   Do we pray with our family?  As a parent, is family prayer a part of the rhythm of your family’s life?  Is the Eucharist a commitment Sunday after Sunday after Sunday?

The talent portion of our stewardship is using our God given talents in the building of our parish community.  How can we get involved in our parish life?  We are having a ministry faire immediately after Mass in our parish life so that you may become more familiar with our parish ministries and that you will make the decision to become involved in one or more of our parish ministries.  This ministry faire is an important part of our stewardship commitment.

We have four parish leadership teams:  worship, faith formation, community building, and operations.  There are multiple ministries within each leadership team.  We would love for you to take a few minutes after Mass to stop down to the parish hall and see how you can become involved in one of our parish ministries.

This coming Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm, I will be an “state of the parish” presentation, and we will dialogue together on the blessings and areas of growth for our parish.  As your schedule, I am hopeful you will join me this Wednesday Evening at 7:00 pm.

The stewardship of treasure is your decision to tithe a portion of your income to the Church for the building of the Body of Christ.  You have received a stewardship commitment card in our parish mailing to you.  Next Sunday is stewardship commitment Sunday in which we ask you place your commitment card in the second collection reflecting your stewardship of time, talent, and treasure.  If you are able to increase your stewardship commitment by a bit, it enables us to expand the ministries of our parish.

Part of the stewardship of treasure is our commitment to the diocesan CMA.  We have become stagnant in reaching our goal of $81,456.   We are stalled at $43, 845 from 220 donors that is 53% of our goal.  We need the support of everyone for us to reach our goal.  We would ask you to consider making your CMA pledge this week.  Thank you so much.

In a few words, the spirituality of stewardship is grounded in our conviction that all is a gift of God.  What is have been given is given for the sharing.  We are missioned to be the stewards of God’s creation.  Each one of us has a responsibility.   With the grace of God and when we work together as the faith community of the Church of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible in Him who strengthens us.