Over the past two weekends a few of our wonderful parishioners have spoken to you about stewardship. I am most grateful for their willingness to speak and for your willingness to listen. In the mail this week you also received a letter from me regarding stewardship. I think most of us including myself are saying - “ I got the message” Let’s face it, we all know the realities, especially the financial realties. These are tough times - certainly not the easiest of times to look at our stewardship - but maybe it is in the crunch times of life that our priorities become clearer - more defined.

St. Peter’s has been the home of intense ministry and faith formation for 155 years. Over the years thousands of baptisms, first communions, weddings and funerals have been celebrated within these walls. As a parish we have reached out to the hungry, the sick, the grieving, even the homeless in our own community and abroad. We have enjoyed festivals and harvest dinners and many socials moments as well.

Each one of us knows that we have a part to play in God’s plan. In today’s gospel we heard Jesus say, “Follow me.” These words are spoken to each of us very personally - God has called each of us to follow him. Our parish family depends on everyone of us - we are all intimately linked together as followers of Christ. And certainly the present day vitality and the future growth of our parish depends on every single one of us.

God is the source of who we are and what we have! As Americans we all know that we have it very well - especially compared to more than 95% of the world. Our response to God’s goodness says much about who we are. Our response, our giving always comes with an attitude and I think there are three attitudes associated with giving: grudge giving, duty giving and thanksgiving. Grudge giving says, “I hate to.” Duty giving says, “I ought to.” Thanksgiving says, “I want to.” Over the past few weeks we have been reflecting on the very real financial needs of our parish and our response, our giving. We come here with hearts full of gratitude - we come with thanksgiving for our lives, our families, our faith. It is as simple as that - our giving is an act of gratitude.

Please take this time to fill out your commitment card. Some parishioners use the biblical injunction to tithe - that is they give 10% to church and charity. If you are one of them I would invite you to write “I tithe” on the card - that is sufficient. Some of us are using electronic transfer of funds - if you would like to increase the amount each month please mark that on your card with the letters “ET”. If you would like to write a note on the card, please do so. Please make sure that your FULL name and address are on the card. Once you finish, please place the card back in the envelope and drop it in the collection basket. If for some reason you cannot increase your giving at this time, please mark that on your card and return it, otherwise you will be receiving a number of mailings and I certainly do not want to harass anyone over this very personal decision. Please know of my gratitude for all of your sacrifices in making St. Peter’s such a wonderful parish.