Sister Jodie
Kearney was telling the story of her giving spiritual direction to a woman who
had had a rough childhood – considerable family issues and some abuse. This person happened to be a student of St
Joseph’s school in her elementary years.
When Sister Jodie asked how she made it through her difficult childhood,
she said that each morning on the way to school, when she turned the corner,
she saw her classroom light on. Then she
knew all would be well. She experienced
at St Joseph’s school the strength, the faith, and the love that helped her
become the woman she is today.
To me this
such a telling story of the value of St. Joseph’s School.
The
education of our children involves more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. The education of our youth involves touching
into the spiritual hunger and thirst for faith, hope, and love that enables
then to value the spiritual dimension of life and a source of their inner
self-esteem.
In the first
Scripture reading today from the prophet Isaiah as well as from today’s Gospel,
we read: “The people who walked in
darkness have seen a great light.” The
light referred to is not just the light from an electric light bulb; rather the
light we seek is the light of our faith, the light of the person of Jesus.
We are
grateful for the light of Christ that illumines all that we do. This is true at St Joseph’s School, and it is
equally in all the ministries of our parish life.
In today’s
Gospel, we reflect on the call of the first disciples – Peter and Andrew, James
and John. “Come after me.” Jesus speaks these words to Peter, Andrew,
James and John. He speaks that same
invitation to you and me. The first disciples
left behind their fishing nets and followed Jesus. As we reflect on the call of the first
disciples and how they left everything with no strings attached, we are invited
to reflect on the call of God in our lives.
The disciples embraced the mission of teaching others what they have
learned from Jesus. The disciples are
being called to become conscious of a deeper dimension of life, the spiritual
sea in which all people swim.
In
considering the call of the first followers of Jesus, we find the opportunity
for rethinking and reclaiming the varied calls that have made us who we are.
Jesus’
inaugural address to the apostles was rather brief: “Follow me.”
In choosing
Peter and Andrew and James and John, Jesus wasn’t choosing the best and the
brightest, but Jesus was developing a team, a team that he would collaborate
with. The first apostles trusted
completely in the Lord and were willing to leave everything to follow Jesus.
As we reflect on the call of the first apostles, this leads us
to pray over the call each of us receives to be a disciple of Jesus. In asking ourselves what our level of
commitment to follow Jesus is, I share Pope Francis' dream. I dream that we
will give Jesus first place in our lives. That we will hear him say,
"Follow me." And that we will do our part in gathering God’s people
together as the faith community of St. Joseph’s: including those who have
become discouraged, those who have drifted from the faith, and families with
small children, high school students and young adults.
Today we celebrate in our parish Stewardship Commitment Sunday. Our spirituality of stewardship calls us to a
deeper awareness of how we respond to the call of God in our lives. Our commitment to stewardship is holistic and
all-embracing. This includes a
stewardship of time, a stewardship of talent, and a stewardship of treasure.
Our stewardship of time is our prayer life. Our prayer is our conversation with God in
which we speak to God from our hearts and, even more, we listen to God’s call
and God’s plan for our life. In our
stewardship of time, we live life with an attitude of gratitude thanking God
for the blessings of life. We also
confess that we are sinners who stand in need of the healing forgiveness of
God.
Our stewardship of talents calls to use our God-given talents in
the service of others and for the building up of our faith community. More than volunteers who help out with our
parish ministries, we are stewards who are missioned by Christ to serve, to
help, and to love others.
Our stewardship of treasure calls to share from our financial
resources for the building of our parish life.
It’s not heresy to say that our check book is part of our
spirituality. My prayer is that sharing
is not a burden but an opportunity to serve and make a difference in our
parish. I intend to increase my tithing
this year as I very much believe in the mission of St Joseph’s School and in
the mission and the ministry of our parish.
On a practical note, we invite you to place your commitment card
that you received in the mail in the collection today. There is only one collection; so place the
commitment card and your offering in the collection. If you have forgotten to bring your
commitment card with you; not to worry, there are extras in the pew and we will
give you a couple of minutes after the homily to fill out the stewardship
commitment card.
Be assured that your stewardship commitment is not a legal
contract. If your financial
circumstances change, you are welcome to alter your level of giving. Your commitment is your response to the call
of God in your life.
I bring you back to the woman who was receiving spiritual
direction from Sister Jodie and was describing her rough childhood. She as a child was a student at St. Joseph’s
School. When Sister Jodie asked how she made it through her
difficult childhood, she said that each morning on the way to school, when she
turned the corner, she saw her classroom light on. Then she knew all would be well.
When we
experience the love and compassion of others, when we experience and are in
touch with the spiritual dimension of our lives, when we embrace the light of
Christ and allow ourselves to be loved by our God, we will always know that all
will be well, very, very well.
Have a
blessed day and we will pause for a couple of minutes to fill out the
commitments if you wish.
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