Dear Parishioners:

Thank You!  Those two words might be the most important words we speak each day.  They evoke an understanding and awareness that we have been blessed by our God and others.  Think about that for a minute. What did you thank God for yesterday? Did you thank God for your family and friends, your health, your home, your job or livelihood? Did you thank God for the gift of faith or the abundant love that he showers upon you each day?

Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts.

Stewardship isn’t a process, or a campaign, or an accounting of our gifts.  Rather, it is a lifestyle rooted in gratitude and generosity.

The whole point of stewardship is to help each other strengthen our relationship with God and get to Heaven!  The foundation of stewardship is prayer – talking and listening to God every day, throughout the day.

Stewardship means putting complete trust in God, in all things.  Stewardship means sharing all of our gifts, especially that one that means the most to you.

By sharing all of our gifts, it helps us keep God first in everything, from putting other “gods” before God.  It helps us live “God-centered” lives and not “self-centered” lives.

Of all the gifts that God gives us, the one he wants the most is our heart.  He wants us to share out of love, not out of obligation.  When we align our thoughts and actions with God’s plan and use our gifts in the way God intended, our lives become transformed with Joy, Love, Mercy and Peace!

Again thank you, by your monetary contributions and the sharing of your gifts and talents with our parish community, you have helped to share the joy and peace of Christ always and everywhere.

Gratefully yours in Christ,
Msgr. John Shamleffer
Pastor