Message from Dcn Tom

07-16-2023Weekly ReflectionDeacon Tom Henrich

This will be my last “pinch-hit” for Fr. Bing.  I admit that even though I was intimidated by the experience at first, I enjoyed it. In these posts, I have hoped to share the importance of giving back to God with a generous, rather than a guilty heart, and to remind us that God is never outdone in generosity. We are called to give of first fruits from what God has entrusted to us as stewards in His kingdom.  To see that giving of our treasure is something we should expect of ourselves to participate in the sanctification of the world and be united more closely with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

A parishioner recently asked me, “What is your goal?” in terms of giving of our financial resources to the church.  My instant response was one that surprised me and potentially will you as well (or maybe it is your immediate thought!): TO NEVER HAVE TO TALK ABOUT MONEY AGAIN!  TO NEVER BE ASKED TO FUNDRAISE AGAIN!

Imagine if there would be no need for money from a fall festival or selling items after Mass; no need to volunteer time with laborious activities to raise a few dollars. Since being assigned to St. Rose I have been listening to you, and I want you to know that I heard you!  I definitely heard how tired everyone is, especially in regard to fundraising and it feeling as if the church is only interested in money.

However, one of the most important things I heard from you is where you are NOT tired.  I have NOT heard a single person talk about how tired they are working with the poor through St. Vincent De Paul or taking Eucharist to the homebound through the Ministry of Care.  I have NOT heard the Shawl Ministry being tired of crocheting shawls for the needy or Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion having to distribute Eucharist at Mass. And the list goes on-and-on.  These ministries give everyone more energy and joy in their lives and benefit our community. Wouldn’t it be amazing to never worry about the financial state of the parish and focus even more time on these life enriching experiences?  Can we accomplish this?  In a word, YES!

While I do not have financial information for St. Rose and GSM, there is information about giving for Americans in general.  It is estimated that the average family that identifies as Catholic gives 1.1% of their gross income to charities.  It is also estimated that 33% of Catholics who attend Mass give 5% or more of their gross income to their church.  I need to point out that many people in this parish are giving more than that!  All I can say to them is a huge THANK YOU from all of us here at St. Rose and GSM.  It also begs the question, “What if the estimated 33% became 100% who attend?”  What an incredible change that would create to our financial bottom line including building our new church and maintaining it in the future.  This coupled with all of us continuing to work toward bringing back those parishioners that no longer attend and you can see how quickly this can grow! I am confident this would bring us to the point where we would never have to fundraise again. EVER! And, we would be able to provide even more ministries that we all love to St. Rose and GSM Parishioners as well as positively impacting our communities in the process.  A simple idea but it takes all of US to accomplish this goal.

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from scripture:

“See then! The Lord has chosen you to build a house as his sanctuary.  Take courage and set to work.” 1 Chronicles 28:10