From the bulletin for The Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sep 15, 2024)
24th Sunday
It’s suddenly September. Wait: suddenly it’s mid-September! That will take some getting used to. But by then it’s going to be October already, if not mid-November! As my great-grandfather summed up on his 80th birthday,“Time marches on.”
Indeed it does. And seeing September so far advanced, I almost wish I had thought to pen this bulletin article last weekend. “Almost,” because we put God first and spoke of prayer, which is never regrettable. But almost because I neglected to explain why we were preaching about prayer. For we have special reasons to focus on it.
First, we are in the “Year of Prayer.” Google’s homepage might not remind you of this often, but it’s true. Pope Francis declared this year a Year of Prayer in preparation for the Jubilee of Hope that begins this Christmas Eve. And as “time marches on,” there is really not much time left in this Year to reflect on, learn about, and go deeper in that marvelous mystery of divine intimacy we call prayer.
But not only that. If you have been around for at least as long as Fr. Patrick, you know that every October at St. Mark’s is the Month of Stewardship. Through a flurry of thematic preaching, parishioner testimonies, and pledge opportunities, we annually reflect on the response that we as disciples are called to make to God’s generosity by giving back with our time, talent, and treasure. But it’s becoming too much! Too much to cover in one month, even a month as well-endowed with weekends as October tends to be. How can we possibly give even cursory treatment to such important pillars of parish life as prayer time, community and ministry involvement, and financial giving in a long month?
So this year we are stretching it to two. By the powers vested in me as pastor, I have officially declared September to be the “Month of Communion” while October remains the “Month of Stewardship.”
This month, therefore, our focus is on being good stewards of that precious gift of Time. We encourage one another to employ wisely the “time of grace” to build up communion with God through prayer and with one another by committing to the parish community. Last Sunday’s invitation was to recommit to the prayer life by formulating a concrete plan: how much time each day will I spend with the Lord, how will I spend it, and when and where will that encounter take place? (Can you answer those Q’s?) This weekend, our focus turns to that privileged place of encounter which is our parish adoration chapel, inviting all parishioners to sign up for an hour, either alone or with others as a team. As spouses well know, relationships are nurtured by spending time attentive to one another. How important that we who are called to be saints be intentional about doing that with God!
After that, we turn our attention to building up our communion with one another as Church. In this Archdiocese, we are still in the early stages of restructuring parishes to incorporate small groups into their very fabric. Last Lent, we rolled out our first flight of parish small groups; this month we will introduce several new ones and invite all those who have yet to connect with a group to give one a try.
The month culminates with our annual exercise in welcoming our thrifty neighbors to our parish through the creative (and economically impactful!) fall Rummage Sale, capped off by the New Parishioner Lunch on Sunday the 29th.
Then it’s onward into October, during which we will have opportunities to devote our God-given talents to service at the parish by means of the annual Ministry Fair and Talent Pledge, and finally discern how each household is called to support the mission of our parish financially through the annual Financial Pledge. The Annual Parish Report will be published around that time, to share with you all both the wonderful things that the Lord has done at St. Mark’s in the past year, as well as the substantial challenges we are facing (as always!) to advance our mission in the year to come. (And mark your calendars: Nov 9 we will host a first-ever “State of the Parish” event, to gather together with all our favorite people and see where we are and where we are headed as a family.)
Phew! That’s a lot to do in less than two months’ time. At this outset, therefore, of this “Discipleship Campaign” or “Series on Stewardship,” let’s commend our parish to Our Lady, whom we honor today (Sept 15) as Our Lady of Sorrows, and ask her to help us be good stewards of the gifts that she and Her Son paid for so dearly.
Comments