Living in the Light: A Call to Joy, Gratitude, and Generous Stewardship

From the virtues of a wife in the ancient world to investment strategies in the gospel parable, it looks like the readings are all over the map for this weekend. But they aren’t. There is a consistent theme, and it’s about how we should be living until the Day of the Lord. St. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they are children of the light and of the day, and so should live with the joys, hopes, and conduct appropriate to being in the light. The first reading describes the virtues of a wife (from an ancient perspective), and the gospel parable describes what we should be doing with what the Lord has given us. I imagine that the writer in Proverbs is a man who appreciates his wife and is writing this reflection as he beholds her from across the room, watching what she does. The gospel parable is from the first part of the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel. Next weekend we will read the last part, where the sheep and the goats are divided and judged. In light of that, we can see the urgency of this parable and all the readings of this weekend. We are called, at the end of the day, to appreciation, to recognition of the light we’ve been called to, and to use generously and well the talents we’ve been given.

Call to action: If you’ve been doing a stewardship drive this month, the readings for this weekend provide a wonderful opportunity to pull it all together! The call to live spiritually in the light (prayer and sacrifice), the call to give of ourselves virtuously (the image of the good wife), and the call to use and give our talents well and generously (parable of the talents). As we approach Thanksgiving later this week, do we have a spirit of gratitude? A spirit that celebrates joy, feels appreciation for all that we have, and is willing to give generously? It’s time to call your parishioners to Christian joy and generosity. Use your GiveCentral GC Smart Tools, especially your pew cards with your Smart Text number and/or QR Code, allowing them to give joyfully and quickly.

Pastoral Action Points

1. GiveCentral has customizable templates for your pew cards! You can find them here.
   
2. Do you need help using our GC SmartTools? Please email edgar@givecentral.org so you can join an onboarding/re-boarding training where you will learn all about the GC platform and GC SmartTools. 

Last modified: August 11, 2024