Happy Thanksgiving! World Day of the Poor! Maintenance to Mission!
Happy Thanksgiving! World Day of the Poor! Maintenance to Mission!
Last week we had an in-service for our Cluster Parish and Finance Council and Evangelization Team. The presenter, Chris Newkirk, asked how many of them gathered read Bishop's Pastoral Letter. I was very happy to see that most of them read the letter. Let me repeat the same question to all of you. Did you read it? If not, please read prayerfully and reflect on it.
As I mentioned before, Bishop Powers started this process a little more than two years. The first year was for priests, the second year was for and along with priests, Deacons, and parish/cluster leadership team. At the same time, we organized an Evangelization Team. They went for a workshop. This year with Bishop's Pastoral letter it is open for the entire parish/cluster/diocese. In the letter, Bishop Powers talks about Christendom and the Apostolic Mission. During Christendom, all who were born in Christian family, they all received Baptism and other Sacraments. They all went together for Sunday Mass. In Apostolic Mission – as we read in the New Testament – on the day of Pentecost, there were no Christians – they went out and proclaimed the Gospel. On the first day, there were 3000 people who received faith. We are slowly moving that period. These days, even though children are born in Christian families, it is not necessary that every one receive baptism. Everyone who received the Sacraments do not go to Church. So, Bishop is inviting us to live our baptismal call – sharing the faith and encouraging others to grow in faith, and inviting to celebrate with us. Bishop quotes Pope St. Paul VI and says, “The Church exists in order to evangelize.”
At our in-service we looked at the data-Mass attendance, faith formation, finance, and other activities. Some of the council members expressed concern about Mass attendance. How do we invite everyone to celebrate the Eucharist – the center of our Catholic faith. Based on the Bishop’s letter the answer is within the question/concern-Apostolic Mission-sharing faith with others and to become a welcoming community. If we don’t see our friend for a couple weeks in the Church, how many of us call and tell them we miss him/her and invite them back. If someone comes back after a while, do we stare at them or go to them and express our joy to see them back. We need to grow as a welcoming community and encouraging others to come and celebrate with us. There are three steps in evangelization: 1. Pre-Evangelization-first step-inviting our friends to come our church-it is not directly faith. It could be social events. 2. Evangelization-it is directly faith based. Inviting friends and family to learn faith. It could be RCIA, prayer group, celebration of the Eucharist. It is an invitation to respond by making a decision to follow Jesus. 3. Discipleship and 4. Apostolate – we are in this area – discipleship is Christian life and Apostolate – growing in discipleship will carry out the mission of the Church in our sphere of influence. I will be writing a few thoughts every week on this theme for your prayerful reflection.
This Sunday, 33rd Sunday of Ordinary time, Pope Francis invites us to celebrate the World Day of the Poor. Mother Theresa of Calcutta was summoned to the court on the charges of converting children to the Catholic faith. When she stood on the dock, the judge asked her if the charges were true. She asked for a baby to be given to her. She held the baby in her arms and said, “This child I picked up from the dustbin; I don’t know to what religion this child belongs or what language it speaks... I give this child my love, my time, my care, my food... but the best thing that I have in my life is the faith in Jesus Christ. Can’t I give this child the best I have in my life?” The case was dismissed in favor of Mother Theresa. Pope Francis message for us: “Do not turn your face from anyone who is poor” Tobit 4:7. If we look at the world today, we can see poverty everywhere: war zones, civil unrest, inflation and so on. We may not be able to reach out to everyone. On Thanksgiving Day Mass, we have a custom of bringing nonperishable food. It is one way to participate in Pope’s invitation. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, it is also an opportunity to give thanks for the many blessings we enjoy. The Eucharist is the perfect prayer of Thanksgiving and an example of Jesus’ self-giving. Let us grow in love for the Eucharist, give thanks, and make a promise to courageously invest our God given gifts to serve one another.
We are at the end of the liturgical year and on this penultimate Sunday, the readings focus on the theme of fidelity to the tasks God places in our care. We have the first reading from the book of Proverbs. It is a poetic explanation of a worthy wife who brings many blessings by properly using God given gifts. In the second reading, Paul advises us to keep awake and encouraging and building each other up as we wait for the “Day of the Lord.”
Today’s Gospel asks a question: Are we using our talents and gifts primarily to serve God? The parable of the talents challenges us to do something positive and constructive with our talents. The talent was a unit of coinage of high but varying value depending on its metal (gold, silver, copper) and its place of origin. A denarius was the normal daily wage. A talent is 6,000 denarii or 20 years of daily wages for a six-day workweek.
In this parable, Jesus says, “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” We read in Matthew 13:12, “To anyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Through this parable, Jesus reminds us to focus on use God given gift to perform our duties and to live in the presence of God in doing the work of God to glorify him and for the salvation of all.