A Note from Steve Hood

A Reflection on Stewardship…

Remember the predicament of the little drummer boy? “I have no gift to bring,” he worried, “that’s fit for a king!” Sunday after Sunday, that’s true of us, too. When the gifts are brought forward in the offertory procession, the priest says, “Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer which earth has given and human hands have made.” “Through your goodness” we have these gifts… By ourselves, we have nothing to offer at all. Then, over the wine, he says again, “Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness, we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.” “Through your goodness” we have these gifts… By ourselves, we have nothing to offer! Even these simple gifts of bread and wine are, first of all, God’s gift to us.

God has provided everything in these simple gifts – the mystery of life hidden in the seed, the sun and rain and soil, even the skills of the farmer who plants and harvests, the miller who grinds the grain into flour, and the baker who shapes the dough into loaves. God’s, too, is the secret in the vine that produces the grape and the expertise of the vintner who crushes the crop into wine. These are the gifts – God’s gifts – that we bring forward to be transformed at the consecration.

We are like little children who must ask their parents for the money to buy those same parents a birthday present. And God, like good parents everywhere, is pleased when we use his gifts to prepare a gift for him! Understanding that everything is God’s and that God is pleased when his children bring as offering the very gifts He Himself has given is the heart of stewardship. Whether it’s our time, talent or our treasure, we must always remember that we would not have these gifts if it were not for God.

This week starts a new budget cycle here at St. Maria Goretti. Our fiscal year runs from July 1 st thru June 30 th. Almost everyone I know looks at the weekly offering figures in the bulletin. I have even heard it referred to as the “score card.” The number you will see in the bulletin starting in July (the weekend of July 17-18)represents the revenue that we put in the budget for weekly Mass collections. You will see that our weekly budgeted offering number has increased from $31,200 to $35,400. We arrive at this number by looking at our past offerings and dividing that by the number of families in the parish to come up with an average weekly offering by family. We then look at our growth trends over the past years and apply that number to the average weekly offering number. This tells us what our increase in Mass contributions should be for the next fiscal year. This has been the formula that has worked in our budget for the last 3 years and we have come very close to proving this out every year. While $35,400 seems like a tall order in the summer months, our trends in giving show that we will catch up when P.R.E. starts back up, around December, and around Easter. At the current rate of giving and the number of families that we should increase this fiscal year, there is no reason that we should not be able to achieve these numbers.

Keeping in mind the above reflection on stewardship, the fact that the gifts and talents that we have are from God, I ask that you revisit the “treasure” portion of your stewardship. Your Parish family thanks you for the sacrifices that you have made. In nine short years we have accomplished so much and that is a direct result of the families of St. Maria Goretti understanding their commitment to God, their commitment to stewardship and their commitment to each other. We stand shoulder to shoulder here at St. Maria Goretti building God’s kingdom here in Westfield, Indiana. As always, the budget and financial statements are always open for anyone in the Parish to review. We want everyone to feel completely comfortable with their Parish, so feel free to call me if you would like to review these. Thank you for all you do.

In Christ’s service,
Steve Hood

Why do you suppose we tip our waiters and waitresses 15%
and we offer God much less?