{"id":842,"date":"2012-10-15T16:43:57","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T20:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=842"},"modified":"2012-10-15T16:43:57","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T20:43:57","slug":"homily-on-helping-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/homily-on-helping-the-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"Homily on Helping the Poor"},"content":{"rendered":"

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nWisdom 7:7-11
\nHebrews 4:12-13
\nMark 10:17-30
\nOctober 14, 2012<\/p>\n

Stewardship Commitment Sunday<\/p>\n

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question many of us might like to ask.\u00a0 We want to be with God.\u00a0 We have been created to be with God in Heaven.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 immediate answer is to keep the commandments (which is something we should all do).\u00a0 The man says he has indeed observed all the moments.<\/p>\n

Jesus then (out of love) says \u201cyou are lacking in one thing, Go, sell what you have and give to the poor.\u201d\u00a0 We are told this was incredibly difficult for the man \u201cfor he had many possessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

We certainly should think about our priorities.\u00a0 How important are our possessions to us?\u00a0 Is God our priority or are things our priority?\u00a0 Are we willing to use what we have to help the poor?<\/p>\n

Now, often the question of helping others focuses on money (our treasure).\u00a0 But that isn\u2019t the only thing we have been given that we can use to help others.<\/p>\n

We each have been something we are good at.\u00a0 We are each gifted in some way.\u00a0 In stewardship terms, we call these \u201ctalents.\u201d\u00a0 We might have talents that we don\u2019t even see as such.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good stewardship is about taking the gifts we have been given (time, talent, and treasure) and using them to help other people.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t something we do once in a while but something we should be mindful all the time.\u00a0 It\u2019s a way of life.<\/p>\n

To do this we count on the Holy Spirit to give us the gift of wisdom to realize the gifts we have.\u00a0 We also count on the gifts of understanding and prudence to use the gifts we have been giving in accord with God\u2019s Will.<\/p>\n

We do this in different ways.\u00a0 Perhaps we use our talents at work to help other people at work.\u00a0 I think here of those working in the medical field or teaching for instance who see the good of the people they serve as their motivation and aren\u2019t out just for money or an easy job.<\/p>\n

Parents can use their gifts in caring for their children, a very important job.\u00a0 Other people might help care for elderly parents.<\/p>\n

Others might help their neighbor or volunteer for community organizations.<\/p>\n

Then, there are the people who use their gifts here in our parish.\u00a0 It takes many people working together to make possible what we do.<\/p>\n

This is evident in the Mass itself.\u00a0 Mass is not a one-person show.\u00a0 Besides me, we have Sacristans, Lectors, Ministers of Communion, Ushers, Altar Servers, and Musicians.\u00a0 Multiple people using what they have given to help make our Mass what it is meant to be.\u00a0 By the way, we can always use more people in these roles.\u00a0 We especially need more cantors for all the Masses\u00a0and some altar servers especially\u00a0at the 4:30 Mass.<\/p>\n

But Mass is not the only thing we do around here.\u00a0 That is a lot that goes on here.\u00a0 You should have received our Annual Stewardship Commitment Form <\/a>in the mail by now.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t, there are a few copies near the entrances.\u00a0 The form lists many of the opportunities to minister in our parish using your gifts.\u00a0 There are also some brochures that provide brief descriptions of the ministries.<\/p>\n

The forms certainly are an opportunity for you to volunteer for new ministries.\u00a0 But we also ask that you fill them out to list the ministries you are currently involved in for two reasons.\u00a0 One, it helps us make sure our lists are current but it can also serve as your own personal commitment to continue to serve using the gifts you have been given.<\/p>\n

So, look at the lists.\u00a0 Some things don\u2019t require much time.\u00a0 For instance being a Lector or Altar Server requires only a little time beyond Mass itself.<\/p>\n

There are various committees like Parish Council and Evangelization that help set direction for or put into action our future.<\/p>\n

There are people who bring Communion to the homebound.\u00a0 It might be just to one person but that one person greatly appreciates it.<\/p>\n

You could help with our youth groups.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

You could help our Service Team with our Giving Tree at Christmas.\u00a0 Or hospitality at our coffee hours or something as simple as stuffing envelopes.<\/p>\n

Do you have a little more time?\u00a0 How about helping our Food Pantry or our gift shop?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What can you do to make a difference?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Wisdom 7:7-11 Hebrews 4:12-13 Mark 10:17-30 October 14, 2012 Stewardship Commitment Sunday “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d It\u2019s a question many of us might like to ask.\u00a0 We want to be with God.\u00a0 We have been created to be with God in Heaven. …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Homily on Helping the Poor’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,49],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-dA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions\/843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}