We are coming up the holiday season. And it’s time to be jolly. So I have these two glasses filled with Jolly Rancher candy. These two glasses contain two approaches to life. One says, “Life is tough. I need to focus on myself. I need to protect what I have.” The other approach says, “Life is tough. But there many people who are in need. I can give what I can to help others [I start throwing candy out] There is the church and all the good it does. [Throw out more candy] There are those people down the street who are struggling. [Throw out more candy] There’s that one group who keeps asking me for help. [Throw out more candy] There’s all those problems in the world. [Throw out more candy]. Then of course the first glass says, ”That was dumb. you just threw away all of your Jolly Ranchers. What do you have left?”
And first glass continues to say, “Life is tough.” But then they add, “So help me God” God says, “Sure.” [I pour more candy into the glass and it runs over for there is no room.] But because the glass only was thinking of himself and kept everything, there was no room for God. The second glass continues to say, “Life is tough.” But then they add, “Help me God” God says, “Sure.” [I pour more candy into the glass and it becomes filled.]
The gospel parable is pretty straight forward. Lots of us preachers use the word talents to mean the physical abilities that we have, but the word talent is actually a measure of money. And the amount of money described is stupendous. One talent is a huge amount. One talent is about 75 pounds of silver which equals about 6,000 denarii. And one denarii would be an average pay for a day of work. So it’s a huge amount, and the three servants have this big responsibility. And the third servant seems to be smart in not wanting to take a chance with the money.
But that’s NOT how the master sees it. The first and second servants took a chance with what they received; they didn’t just hang onto their money. Actually the master is mad at the third servant for just hanging onto it. He calls him wicked and lazy.
The first two servants took a risk. They invested it. They gave it something beyond themselves and it came back doubled! In a sense, it’s like the Jolly Rancher demonstration. When we only think of ourselves, there’s no room for God’s grace to work, there’s no room for God to fill us. But when we start looking out for others and give, as the parable says, we SHARE in the master’s joy.
I asked few parishioners this past week about their giving. One young woman, fairly new to our parish said, “While one may think it is easier to give when you have more in the bank, it is more humbling to give when the bank runs low. This is to not test your faith but to actually see the beauty in trusting in God. Giving back is not only right, but also fulfilling in a way that receiving can just not compare.”
And a senior member of the Church who has a limited income said, “It’s my obligation. I give so that others can learn about Christ. I give because the Church has been there for me and has been giving to me all of my life with guidance and peace. Also, I like the fact that my offering supports other endeavors, like when we tithe as a parish.”
And a family man with two kids told me, “I think it is important to give to the church to support the overall mission and outreach of the church.”
Another new member said, “The church has given so much to me. The Church has changed my life to what I am today. If I do give, perhaps someone else will benefit like I did.”
This weekend we are giving you the chance to be like the first or second servant. That is, to take a chance on God. And not to be like the third servant, who just wanted to hang onto what he has.
The biblical notion for this “giving to God” is called tithing. It means giving 10% of what you earn away. 10%. And as your parish family, we want to continue giving to those wonderful organizations and charities all around our community and world. Giving half of that 10% (or rather 5%) to the church is what we ask. And we, as a parish, give 5% of the adult offerings to needy groups. This past fiscal year we gave $36,697.
Look in your bulletin at the blue insert. Look at the chart of tithing. Here’s what 5% looks like. Some of you are doing that already, and we thank you. But to all of you, I say, “Please give more.”
If you believe in the good things that we are doing here as a parish and if you want us to continue doing good things . . . we need you to “invest in us.” Our costs have gone up . . . facility costs, benefit costs, materials we need to serve you. If you believe in who we are as a Catholic Church . . . welcoming all, growing in faith, sending you forth to go make a difference, then please consider increasing your contributions, so that we can do what our mission statements says: Love God. Live the Eucharist.
On the back side of the blue sheet is a form for automatic contribution. This is what I use. But you know what, I haven't increased my amounts for years. Maybe that’s the same with you. If you haven’t started using the automatic form, please consider it. It’s safe. It’s easy and our preference is to have your contribution come right from your checking or savings account so that there are no processing fees. But even if you use the form, you can still receive envelopes that you can put in the basket . . . to demonstrate to your kids about the importance of giving, or if you just don’t want to feel dumb by not putting something in.
At this time, pass down the little pledge cards and a pencil. We want you to prayerfully consider what you can pledge for 2024, and how you can increase your giving in 2024, with a dollar amount or a percentage.
Also on the back of the pledge card, please write down any prayer requests that you have for us. And we will be praying for those in the Advent seasons during our Masses.