READING 1:
Exodus 17:8-13 Psalm 121 READING 2: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 GOSPEL: Luke 18:9-14
Annual “State of the Parish” John Gasser ********************************************************************************************** Did you listen to the first reading? Do you realize what was happening? Moses was a strong leader who went one on one with God. But not even Moses was strong enough to do it alone. When he grew tired, Aaron and Hur held up his arms so the People of God could win their battle. We’re a long way from those times, but the truth holds, we can not fight life’s battle without help. We are in this together. Do you know who the happiest people in Ben Hill Griffin stadium are on game day? It is serious business to the players and the coaches. I’d like to suggest they are the ones standing on the field at half time being introduced as major donors to the athletic program. They stand out there surrounded by 90,000 cheering fans knowing they, as donors, have some skin in the game. We are on the same Queen of Peace team. Like the Hebrews conquering the Promised Land, we face major challenges. We, as a parish, are being challenged to fill out a card with our estimate of giving for next year and to make an additional pledge to the Legacy building campaign. Why wouldn’t we? The happiest people in this church are the ones with skin in the game. This is about doing what Jesus wants us to. He said, “Go and make disciples,” and that is what we are doing here. Most of his disciples left when the going got tough and faith was required. That in my mind is what every “no” is; a lack of faith. Many of his disciples returned, though, and they put their lives, their families, their total assets on the line courageously to get our religion to the second generation. That is faith in action. Every “yes” is a faith statement. Every “yes” is affirmation of what Christianity is about. I think we are revealing our hearts. Our church is grand, maybe grandiose, but I think churches should be. The rest of our buildings, although attractive and new are the least expensive kind of construction. They are merely functional by today’s standards. We use this space in these buildings to make disciples. We draw people of different ages into the community and we hope into a life where faith informs them, gives them confidence as nothing else can and deepens to greater faith. Everything we build gets plenty of use, so it doesn’t seem we are building without purpose. The athletic department at UF is spending $28 million for a stadium expansion of weight room and trophy cases and offices to better impress recruits and everybody understands it; we will recruit many more to Christ’s team through these buildings than the UF football team would even consider recruiting. It’s not about the buildings or the rest at Queen of Peace, it’s about results. Our results will be measured by what we do with what we have been blessed by for the mission. Our mission is to bring people to Christ. Today’s Gospel tells us to be persistent. Frankly, God answers our prayers. We need to persist on God’s behalf. I’m no Moses, but I can’t do this without your help either. Please help in this mission, put some skin in the game for Jesus. When you look at our cards for next year’s offertory giving and the Legacy campaign, consider your answer to the final question in the Gospel: But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Fr. Jeff McGowan |
