33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time/ “Stewardship is About Everyone Helping”
33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time/ “Stewardship is About Everyone Helping”
One day a carnival came to town. One of the side show attractions was a strongman. The man was 6’6”. He weighed in a 260 pounds. He bent steel bars. He dead lifted 500 pounds. At the end of his show he said, “I have one final feat of strength. He took a lemon and he squeezed in his two massive hands. He was able to extract a cup of lemon juice after several minutes of effort.
He then challenged the crowd. If anyone can get any more juice out of this lemon, I will give them $50. An elderly woman stepped up. She took the lemon. She smashed it in her two small delicate hands until another cup of juice came out of the lemon. The strongman was amazed. He said, “How could you do that.” The woman said, “That was easy. You see, I have been chairing our parish finance committee for 20 years. I know how to make a lot of a little!”
During the past few weeks we have been reading from Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians. Today, we do so again. Paul experienced the tension that a lot of minsters in the church experience, a struggle between addressing both the spiritual and the temporal needs of the church.
Paul had ministered in Thessalonica. He had established a flourishing church. The message he preached was that the second coming of Jesus Christ is near. Everyone needs to be baptized. People need to lead good, moral, upright lives. Christians need to pray in solitude. Christians have to prayer together. A believer must join a church so they can live in community. Paul felt important information about Jesus comes from the church. The church also offers special graces that can strengthen its members. Divine assistance comes to each member of the church when sacraments are celebrated. People rejoiced in their new faith, but they also asked the questions. How do I make time for Christian living and just living? Why try to establish oneself in the world if the end is near?
Many of the Thessalonian Christians were not financially supporting themselves. Nor were they supporting their families. Consequently, people’s opinions of Christians were diminishing.
Paul takes the Christians in Thessalonica to task. He did what he often did when he was disappointed. First, he says, that this is not how I taught you to live. Secondly, he says you need to follow the example I set for you.
Paul was a Jewish Rabbi. He was a teacher. Rabbis were usually very spiritual men. A lot of them were very learned, but they were not professional ministers. A Rabbi took pride in the fact that he worked. Some of them, like Jesus, were construction works. Others were farmers. Some were tradesman. But they all earned their own way. A Rabbi did not want to be a charity case.
St. Paul was a tent maker. All through the ancient world there were town squares where artisans would sell their wares. Most of the time there were pieces of canvas over their booths. And those canvas awnings had to be repaired when they ripped. Awnings also were draped over people in outside auditoriums and theaters. Wherever Paul went he carried the tools of his trade. An awl, needles, threads. When he was not preaching, he was working. Paul is very strong in his condemnation of those who sought to live off the generosity of others. He said, “He who does not work should not eat.
The challenge Paul issues is relevant for the church in every age. As a community of faith, Sacred Heart, needs its members to contribute so that we can pay the regular bills of the parish. Every year we have what is called Offertory Commitment Weekend. This week everyone in the parish will receive a mailing. In that mailing will be a commitment card. The card will have three sections, one for God which you can throw in a fire outside the church door next Sunday. The second we ask you to put in the collection. The third card is yours to keep so you can keep track of your donations to the offertory throughout the year.
I ask all of you reflect on what your gift will be this year. You might say, “I did this once and that is enough.” But just like the cost goes up to run your household every year. The cost of paying our church bills goes up every year. We need everyone’s help.
The commitment you make is between you and God. If everyone contributes and does it prayerfully our parish will have the resources, it needs to support itself the next year. I thank all of you for your stewardship. We ask you once again to share the treasures you possess with our community.