July 26, 2009
The Cost of Mission III
For the past two weeks I’ve been writing about our commitment to keeping the spirit and mission of Saint Brigid’s fully alive even in the face of a large debt ($400,000) and necessary budget cuts ($250,000). So the reason I’m asking families to make a big sacrifice at this moment and make a large one-time donation is not a bookkeeping issue -- rather it’s a “keeping the mission of Jesus going” issue.
There is a certain spirit in the parish that shows itself in action -- welcoming, care for the needy, concern for youth, lively liturgies, and hundreds of volunteers who serve, teach, take care of the gardens, sing, visit, feed, counsel, work with youth, etc.
These things do not end because we’re facing financial troubles. We’ll keep on going with the attitude that the power of Holy Spirit will fill us and that the attitude of generosity and sacrifice from many will help us take care of the debt.
Here’s one thing to think about as we face our future together: St. Brigid’s parish doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to God. And we belong to the parish because we belong to God. In fact everything that we own, every talent that we’ve been blessed with, every day that we live belongs to God. So when we make decisions about how to spend our time (e.g. coming to Mass each Sunday, getting involved in a ministry that helps other, etc) it’s a response to God’s call. (Imagine that Jesus called you this morning to tell you how he’d like you to use your time this week.)
And when we make decisions about how to use our talents (sharing them with people in our family, sharing them in the larger community), it’s a response to why God wanted us to have those talents in the first place.
When we make decisions as to what to give to the church and other charities, what to leave in a will, what to spend money on, etc., it’s a response to what God wants us to do with the money we have. When we consider all that we have (compare our lives to the millions in our world who have next to nothing) we are indeed rich and we can share from our riches to continue the mission of Jesus.
