32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Mac 7: 1-2, 9-14; 2 Thes 2: 16 – 3:5; Luke 20-27-28
Deacon Larry Brockman
Can you imagine how much Faith it must have taken for the young men in today’s first reading to do what they did, to sacrifice everything, their lives included, in order to keep the tenets of their faith? All they had to do was eat pork, and they would have been spared. But they believed in the law; they believed in their Faith; and their allegiance was to God and that Jewish Faith not the secular morality of the government of the time. And you know, for all of us who eat pork, it might sound silly. But it is the principle that matters. Today, our government is trying to force Catholic business people and the Church and it’s institutions to accept the provisions of the HHS mandate for health care. It’s just like eating pork for the Jews in our first reading. And so, it is a matter of who we owe our allegiance; and it is time for all of us to stand up and be counted.
Now all of us are gathered here this morning for a reason. And I hope that the reason is our commitment to Christ and his Church. It is not so much a mater of what the Church can do for you; but rather, what you can do for your Church. Clearly, the more committed our members are to the church; the more we pray together as a community; and the more we act together in unison as a church and individuals; then the more likely it is that we will prevail in the never ending battle we face against secular society and the attempts to force its standards on our Church. But it takes all of us, not just some of us.
We had Matthew Kelly here some months ago, a very prominent Catholic lecturer who, among other things, studied involvement statistics. One of the surprising results of his study is that only 7% of Catholics are really involved, whether it is as significant financial contributors or active members in Church organizations. Amazingly, this statistic has been confirmed in parishes throughout the country. But it runs counter to everyone else’s studies that say that it is the same 20 % of the people who do 80 % of the work in any conventional organization. So the question is this: are you part of our 7% that is involved and makes a difference, or are you part of the other 93 %?
Our parish is devoting the next couple of weeks to a Stewardship campaign. That means we are asking for your help in time, talent, and treasure. It is called a stewardship campaign because all of us, no matter who we are, are stewards of the time, talent, and treasure that we possess because we receive all these as gifts from God; we are just His stewards. Now you’ll hear people talk about tithing and 10%- they say that is the requirement. But that seems like the wrong criteria- just meeting some financial threshold and then leaving it at that. Rather, we are not asking for 10%; but we are asking for your involvement because, you see, everything you have is a gift. God is most generous to those who are generous with what is theirs- whether it is time, talent, or treasure. And everything we do should be in concert with being a good steward if all of us recognize that everything belongs to God and we are just His stewards. Our Gospel readings over the last couple of months have emphasized this over and over. So what we are asking for is 100% involvement, because that’s what God expects of us- He expects all of us to be involved.
How do you get involved? Well we need CCD and Prep Teachers, Readers and Eucharistic Ministers, Ushers, Musicians and Singers, and Helpers with St. Vincent de Paul. We need Pro Life helpers in many different activities; and people to help with bereavement. We need people devoted to prayer groups and Bible Study; people who give their time in perpetual adoration. We need men’s club, KOC, and Ladies Association members who serve as volunteers at their many activities. We need people to write their representatives often and consistently about issues like abortion and Catholic Social Teaching. We need people to start and lead new activities- a hospitality ministry, a Respite Ministry for caretakers; and other social justice activities. And of course, we need money as well to support all of the facilities and the fine programs this parish is involved in.
And when you get involved, it will mean two things: First, it will mean you have to give something up. If your involvement doesn’t mean you are giving something up, like the widow a couple of weeks ago in the Gospel, then you are not giving from the heart; you are not really committed. Secondly, it will mean that you have to trust God that your efforts will bear fruit. Sometimes, there will be an immediate reward, like the satisfaction a minister of the sick sees when a hospitalized person receives the body of Christ; but more often than not, the rewards are longer term and a surprise, like when a CCD student comes up to a teacher 10 years later and tells them how much they helped them. And after all, we are committed members of the Church for the long term “The Kingdom of God”.
So, how about it? How about joining the 7%?
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