Stewardship

This weekend as we celebrate the Solemn Feast of Pentecost we bring our Easter celebration to its conclusion. This is also the weekend of our stewardship appeal. Too often it is easy for us to associate stewardship solely with monetary contributions. While “treasure” is important to what we do at Epiphany, it is time and talent that are vital to the life of our parish. While our deepest concerns can be financial, the most daily pressing ones center on time. Does anybody have enough time? If you are a family with children in school, you can often find yourself running a nonstop taxi service as you try to meet your son or daughter’s schedule. You certainly don’t have to have children to be busy; there are plenty of demands upon time that can affect any of us no matter what our state in life is.

I know of few people who aren’t busy. I think it has almost become a phobia to not be busy. Being busy comes with its own level of importance. To not be busy can often be viewed as being either lazy or unimportant. I can certainly relate to that temptation, but being busy is neither a sign of importance nor a necessary indicator of hard work. I don’t equate busyness with being important or hard working. One can be busy and have important things to do, but for me many things seem to fall into the “what’s next” category of busyness. Some are important, many are deadline obligations, and most are just trying to keep pace with the flow so things don’t pile up into a mess. That image of Lucy working the ever increasing assembly line comes to mind. Slowing down that assembly line of life is one of my constant goals. Sometimes I am even successful.

Finally, if you have talents that you would like to share, please consider filling out the stewardship form and making an inquiry as to how your gifts might be offered to the parish. Any variety of gifts can be shared with the parish. Filling out the form does not mean that you sign away your time or become involved in a commitment that is overwhelming. Sometimes we need to test the proverbial waters to see if our involvement with a particular element of stewardship is what we are really called to do. While I want to encourage generous and solid commitment, I don’t want any of our commitments to become burdensome. There will be times when any given stewardship commitment may be stressful. Deadlines, availability of volunteers and numerous loose ends can add to momentary stress overloads. While I am not happy with such overloaded moments, they seem to be part of any worthwhile endeavor. It is when the very thought of a commitment becomes dreadful that we need to reexamine our involvement. I have never had a problem with people taking a break or stepping back from a commitment. Better to take time off than to end in exhaustion or resentment. Difficult things are not meant to be a cake walk, but they should be worthwhile. I’m a big fan of fun, but meaningful matters more. There are numerous things I do that are not fun, but are very meaningful and irreplaceable in my priesthood. They are often the moments I am most joyful in my vocation. I hope that others think and feel the same way about their own vocation. Pray, discern, respond.