St. Anne Catholic Church

Stewardship Witness Talk
The following is a transcript of a talk that Parishioner Norman Shaffer presented at masses on Nov 10th & 11th, 2007.

A few weeks ago Ron put out the call for a volunteer to give a “witness talk.” When I heard this I was immediately skeptical. Being the son of a lawyer and married to one as well I could only think “steer clear of this.” But when I found out it was about Stewardship, it became easy to volunteer. For this is the road I am on, trying to figure out my Stewardship, trying to discern its role in my life. And what better way to put things to the test than to stand before you and tell you why I feel giving to St. Anne is a good thing. Why is it we should all give to St. Anne?

Before giving you reasons why Stewardship at St. Anne is a good thing I guess I should introduce myself. Some of you already do know who I am, maybe through my involvement with the school, maybe through my work with the parish. But most of you probably recognize me as the guy who sits in the back of the church…. praying softly…..singing out of key……occasionally wrestling with a two year old.

I started sitting there because when I first joined the parish I didn’t know too many people. I had a severe case of the “I’m-from-Back-East” syndrome. It’s also not my style to just walk right up front from the get-go. So I sat the in the back…praying softly and singing out of key.

Another reason why the back pew felt right was this is where my Faith fit. For years I glad-handed my Faith. After having gone through Our Lady of Mercy grade school, then to Jesuit high school at Georgetown Prep my Faith had plateaued. I pretty much had stopped growing my Faith. I mean I received just about all the sacraments. The only ones left once I became a young adult were Matrimony and what I still call Extreme Unction (no offense Father Paul, but Holy Orders were not for me and I’d like to put off the Extreme part for as long as possible.) So I went about living life and whenever Faith came-a-calling, my response was “I gave in High School.” Actually, looking back, I thought I had all the Faith I needed.

And I figured Faith would stop knocking on the door. I thought after all the years of giving the same answer Faith would have simply accepted it. But that’s not the case. I’ve come to the realization, maybe a bit later than the obviousness of it would suggest, but Faith always needs an outlet. It needs the opportunity to be nourished and to grow.

As of late I have been discovering different ways to live and give my Faith. The most fulfilling has been through my family. My wife and sons have certainly strengthened my Faith. They’ve challenged it, not in the sense of a duel, but by the fact that they keep giving me more than I could ever give them. So I up my level to try and match the Faith they give me. Other ways I live my Faith are to give my time in the care of my mother-in-law. I work with the Matt Talbot Center, a place that helps the homeless re-enter society, and I have supported friends who have traveled the world to provide relief and shelter to those less fortunate.

And last, but certainly not least, I give to St. Anne. For next to my family, it is here where my Faith gets a jolt. It is here where the next strongest Faith challenge comes-a-calling. It is here where the question of how strong is my Faith in God…. in Jesus……in the Holy Spirit comes at me most directly.

But it’s also here at St. Anne where I can explore ways to get more Faith so I can turn around and give it back. It is here where I have the support of community to test my Faith without fear of failure. For if I do fall short I know there will be others here to pick me up. It is here where my family can come together with yours and we can celebrate the triumphs and tragedies of life. And it is here, within these four walls, that we come together each week to give witness to our Faith and thank God for our blessings.

So with this long introduction of myself, the only thing I can confidently say is that I have given you my reasons why giving to St. Anne is good. I leave it to each of you to come to your own conclusions as to why giving is a good thing. I can only hope some of my reasons are your reasons. Regardless, I think we can all agree that giving is good.

Of course, the next question is what to give. If I can go back to my run-of-the-mill faith days, when I heard the word Stewardship I took it as simply giving money. And I won’t deny this is my main purpose in talking to you today but Stewardship in the Catholic Church is changing. Yes, Treasure is important but the concepts of Time and Talent are equally important as expressions of Faith.

For what good is all the money if we do not have the talent to put into action a vision on how best to invest our parish resources in strengthening the Faith of all. What good is it without people giving their time to keep Faith alive? It really means nothing without an involved parish.

But it does start with Treasure. There’s no disputing there are costs in running a church, that there is a need for monetary support to have a successful operation.

Now, in the past few weeks we have heard from the Finance and Parish Councils about our budget situation. Craig and Carmen told us about the shortfalls and what we need to make ends meet. Ron has certainly made clear where we stand financially. There is no doubt we are at a crossroads where money is concerned.

However, and I’m sure Ron is going to cringe when I say this, and again with no offense to anyone else, I say ignore all that talk. From my perspective what has been talked about are the minimum daily requirements that are needed to exist. Yes, each of them has to be pragmatic, because as I said, there are costs in running a parish.

But the opportunity before us today is not about what we have to do to survive but what we should do to flourish. Here is a Faith-challenge moment and my apologies if it comes off as walk ten-paces-turn-and-shoot, but here is a chance to commit ourselves to flourishing; to recommitting ourselves to our Faith…..to our family…..to our friends. For St. Anne is the only place where all three intimately intersect.

Let’s go beyond the minimum requirements. Let’s make a statement that on the verge of St. Anne’s second century, Her parishioners recommitted themselves to Faith. The goal for next year’s is a 15% increase in our sacrificial giving. I say go beyond that. We definitely have the capacity to do it. Most everyone here has been blessed with good fortune.

I once heard a good news/bad news description of the Treasure portion of Stewardship. And I think it fits here. The good news is this parish has all the money it will ever need. The bad news is it’s in your pocket.

Now you have received or will shortly receive in the mail your sacrificial card to fill out and return. Even better, there are cards in each pew right now. Reflect before filling it out; ponder the possibilities of what your giving can do for our community. Whatever figure you arrive at please consider giving more. As I said the goal is to exceed a 15% increase.

And as I also said we have the wherewithal, the question now is…..do we have the faith?