Our Parish Prayer
Lord Jesus, You call us to follow You as disciples. Help us to respond wholeheartedly without counting the cost. We commit ourselves to being good stewards. Help us to be grateful, generous, and willing to give back with humble hearts and make stewardship a way of life. Through the intercession of Your mother Mary, grant us the grace to understand, and the challenges and opportunities we have been given to:
"Find Christ here... and bring Christ to the world!"
Amen
Welcome to our Annual Stewardship Renewal
Every year, we celebrate our Stewardship Annual Renewal status in September. Please find our Stewardship Commiment Card HERE (printable), or fill out the ONLINE version HERE and begin praying how God wants to use your gifts of Time, Talent, and Treasure and recommit yourself to living a Stewardship Way of Life! After each of our Masses, we will collect commitment cards.
How Do I fill out my Stewardship Commitment Card?
After walking through our Ministry Festival and reading through our new Ministry & Membership Directory… please pray through the areas of TIME, TALENT, and TREASURE and consider making commitments:
- In the category of Time, you can make commitments to spend more time with God in prayer. Prayer is the most important part of being a good steward, because when our relationship with God is strong, we are much better able to use our gifts and resources to help our parish and The Church.
- In the category of Talent, you can either re-commit yourself to your current ministry/s, or sign up for new ones. Our goal is for each of us will use our gifts and skills in service for others.
- In the category of Treasure, we are asking everyone to commit to giving a specific percentage of their income to the offertory each week or month for the next year. We are asking everyone to commit to giving half of their tithe— 5% of income—to the parish. If this is something new to you, pray with your family about what you can do.
St. Theresa of Avila says: “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
Maybe our own reflection from St. Theresa’s message is telling us that we are called to be ministers of the Lord’s love and mercy. We are called to recognize how the Lord is blessing us. We are called to live out those gifts and not let them lay dormant, yet, be alive and active, and that our prayer must also be alive and active! Recognizing that our Lord gives us every moment, every breath… and we are to live those for Him.
It is so important right now, more than ever, for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ – to be on fire here at Assumption parish. How could we not continue to build up our own family here and then set our community of O’Fallon on fire, our Archdiocese, our state, our nation! It begins with a single yes to our Lord. Jesus is calling us to be His disciples. He is calling us to be His stewards of His many graces and blessings.
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
Praying together through this Renewal process… this is truly a time for Renewal - for you and your family, and for our parish. Please pray with your family and ask God to guide you, and then either drop your commitment card in the baskets during Mass in September or mail them to the parish office.
Thank you to all who serve in countless ways that help people find Christ here… and bring Christ to the world!
STEWARDSHIP IS...
Not a program
Not a fundraising campaign
Not an empty buzzword
...A Way of Life!
Stewardship is using our Time, Talent, and Treasure to build God's Kingdom. All three elements are equally important.
Stewardship entails a process of continually renewing and recommitting oneself to God. The practice of stewardship is: returning a portion of one’s time, talent and treasure back to God in gratitude for the gifts He has given us, assists us in living out the call of the New Evangelization -- which “invites each Catholic to renew their relationship with Jesus and His Church” (USCCB).
Catholics from around the world, inspired by the spiritual rewards of stewardship, are growing in their faith and living it out more fully on a daily basis. Our parish community has adapted A Stewardship Way of Life. Reading through our parish's Ministry & Membership Directory, will help guide and help you reflect on true discipleship.
Living a Stewardship Way of Life, requires us to put Jesus Christ first in our lives and to live every aspect for the glory of Him. It requires us to give of our Time, Talent and Treasure. Only giving one or two aspects makes us incomplete. It is only in giving of our entire self does one come to realize the graciousness and mercy of our Lord.
We walk by faith as we share in Jesus’ vision. Stewardship is seeing things and living as Jesus intends. What you are is God’s gift to you… what you become is your gift to God! We are a vibrant parish, where believers are actively living as Disciples of Jesus Christ. So, let us honor Mary, and continue her mission in bringing Christ to the world, by living: A Stewardship Way of Life.
Stewardship is…
not a program . . . it is a way of life.
not an activity . . . it is the way we live our life every day.
not the latest fad . . . it is biblically based.
not a way to raise money . . . it is a way to attain holiness.
not just a decision of the head . . . it requires a conversion of the heart.
not an option . . . integral to our Catholic faith.
not another thing to do . . . why and how we do what we do.
not about our generosity . . . about our response to God’s generosity.
what you do after you say, “I believe”.
A DISCIPLES RESPONSE: A PASTORAL LETTER ON STEWARDSHIP
If you say you are a follower of Jesus, then you must be a steward of God's creation. That is the challenge presented in this pastoral letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. CLICK to DOWNLOAD the LETTER
HOSPITALITY We strive to extend a warm, hospitable and loving welcome to all who join us in worship, service, study, social, or in times of personal need. We assist our parish community in presenting a visible sign of Christ’s loving kindness in all we do.
PRAYER We grow as disciples who are committed to prayer—individual and communal prayer, public and private prayer. Through prayer we are invited to draw closer to Jesus and to imitate Him in our daily lives. While Eucharist is central to our spiritual life, other prayer opportunities are made available.
FORMATION We strive to educate, form and sustain the stewardship way of life for all ages through faith formation opportunities in the parish and school. We strive to be disciple stewards and give good example as we participate in parish life in ministries and on parish leadership teams. We are open to the continuous conversion to a life of stewardship – to sharing what one has with a loving, generous and grateful heart.
SERVICE We strive to be servant ministers to the need of our parish members, the wider community and Church. We strive to serve compassionately those who are hurting or in need, lost or alone, or suffering in any way. We give thanks to God for all the gifts we have received and we celebrate the special events in the lives of parishioners.