Happy Labor Day and Happy Rest Day!
“For everything there is a season…”
God so beautifully built into his plan for us time for work and time for rest (the Sabbath). Being a “do-er”, I’ll admit, I’ve never been the best at balancing these two things! But lately, I’m really working on it! (Monday is my day off since I’m here at the parish most of the day on Sunday.)
“Keep holy the Sabbath” is not simply the Lord’s command or an arbitrary rule; it is part of His perfect plan of providing for what we, His children, need…time away, special time with Him, time for prayer, and time for friends and family. With this, we find rejuvenation and rest and, most importantly, when we begin our Sabbath with Mass, we receive a reminder of our calling, clarity about how to order our work through the week, and the Bread of Life which sustains us in our Christian journey! As Ecclessiastes so powerfully reminds us, “For everything there is a season…”
I pray this Sunday and this Labor Day are replenishing days of rest for you!
‘Tis the Season for Our Annual Come & See Event!
Speaking of labor (and rest), do you know how much labor it takes to keep a parish going?! Of course that was rhetorical, but now that I’ve asked it, even as Director of Parish Life, I don’t think I can even answer that fully! I do know that besides the hard work of our parish priests and staff, there are so many others who contribute to the “work” of the parish! Likely, you’re even one of them! We are blessed with hundreds of volunteers, literally, some in more than one ministry or group! From our Buildings and Grounds committee members to our St. Vincent de Paul Societies, from our Mass Ministries to our Knights of Columbus members, the amount of people involved and the amount of time spent cannot be easily counted! And those are just a few examples of the many ministries and committees that keep our parish alive and vibrant, doing the work of “mission support” and “mission direct.” To put it simply, many “laborers in the vineyard” are required to keep a parish going!
But another part of God’s beautiful design is the gifting of charisms. “Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.” (CCC799) To simplify this a bit, these graces give us supernatural power, to the point that what we are doing with the gift (whether administration, craftsmanship, hospitality, intercessory prayer, or service, to name a few) actually brings us energy and joy; it doesn’t seem like “work.” So many of our volunteers here are using the charisms God has given them in order to build up the church, whether a funeral luncheon volunteer with the gift of hospitality or a member of our Arts & Environment team with gifts of craftsmanship in creating floral arrangements to beautify the churches. To all our volunteers…we are so grateful for all of you!
You’re Invited!
While it’s true that charisms empower our work, it still also holds true that “many hands make light work!” With that, we invite you to stop by our Come & See event next weekend! While so many of our ministries are “running strong,” they always need and desire new members, fresh ideas, and more help! After every Mass on September 9-10, representatives from our various ministries will be present in the Parish Center with information and an invitation to join them! Come and see what the Lord might be calling you to…sometimes you don’t even know until you give something a try! (Did I mention that there will be door prizes?!)
Be sure to check out next weekend’s “special edition” bulletin that will list all the ways that you can become involved, from ministries to Faith Formation opportunities.
‘Tis the season…a season where we “settle in” a bit more after summer, committing to doing something new on a regular basis or learning more about our faith with a class or group. I hope we’ll see you there!
Blessed be Jesus!
Shayne
