From the Pastor’s Desk
The office staff were stunned when the totals of last weekend’s Missionary Appeal were tallied. Our parish raised an astonishing $13,000. No one could remember the last time they saw such a high number. On behalf of Fr. Denis “The Menace” Hatungimana and myself, I want to thank you for your generosity. Tanzania is a far off, exotic place for most of us. Its mere name conjures up scenes from National Geographic or our 8th grade Social Studies class. I say to my shame, most people are probably like me, finding it difficult to point to this African country on a map. And yet despite this, many of you still gave out of your hard-earned money during these uncertain economic times. However, I should not be that surprised; giving is in our Chistian blood.
Generosity has been a hallmark of the followers of Jesus Christ since the beginning of the Church over 2,000 years ago. In the first few centuries, pagans were awed at our charitable lifestyle. In a famous document written in the year 130AD, titled “Letter to Diognetus” a Christian is writing to a non-Christian who is baffled by this new religion emerging in the Roman Empire (Christianity was only about one hundred years old at the time. The total worldwide number of adherents was probably in the tens of thousands, compared to the 2 Billion it is today). The author writes:
There is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through... Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives.
They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything.
As Christians we are called to give wildly of our wealth back to God. Why? Is God broke? Does he need to pay rent? Maybe God is like the mafia, whom we need to pay off? Absolutely not! God has no need of our wealth. Yet God does desire something exponentially more important. He wants our hearts. Ever since Original Sin, all the way in the beginning of the Book of Genesis with Adam and Eve, humanity separated themselves from God. We replaced Him with the love of money, possessions and our towering ego. God knows that we love these worldly things too much. In order to slowly turn our hearts, He calls each of us to give a percentage of income back to Him. Even though the Church has never given us an exact amount to give each Sunday, she does ask us to be a “cheerful giver” (Cf. 2 Cor 9:7). Whatever we give, just make sure it stings. That’s a sign of our pride wailing in pain as it’s being replaced by the divine love for which we were originally created for.
Fr. Brian J. Soliven
