This Year's Stewardship of Sacrificial Giving Witness Talk
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2020 Stewardship of Sacrificial Giving Witness Talk
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STEWARDHSIP OF SACRIFICIAL GIVING WITNESS TALK
PRESENTED BY: Bill Doyle
FEBRUARY 22/23, 2020
Thanks Father Bill.
I was honored when Fr. Bill and Betsy Quinn asked if I would offer a brief reflection on our support of Saint Pius. My wife Mary Lynn and I and our 4 daughters have been parishioners here at Saint Pius since 2006. We love the parish, and it is a central part of our lives.
We are truly blessed to be part of this community, and are happy to be involved in it in many different ways. That involvement also means supporting the parish with our financial gifts.
As we raised our children and made financial decisions for our family, I always tried to manage our gifts to all our charitable interests alongside the education of our girls and our fundamental commitment to the parish.
For me and Mary Lynn, Saint Pius receives the largest share of our gifts every year. That includes both our monthly gifts to the parish and our gifts made over the years for parish building campaigns. We are proud of that support, and whenever we walk into the church I am filled with awe at the gift that God has given us to be part of Saint Pius.
We support the parish because we know that everything we have is a gift from God and we are called to share those gifts generously with others. As one of my favorite prayers – the Prayer of St. Francis – tells us – “It is in giving that we receive.“
I love that our parish ministries extend into the community, and I love that we have so many programs offered within the parish. From our support of St. Adalbert to St Vincent DePaul, from our youth programs to our music ministry, from Baptisms to Funerals, and everything in between, Saint Pius is here to help nurture the faith lives of our families in every way. I want to be sure the parish has the resources to always be able to do all of that, and to do it well. I trust our parish staff and our parish leadership across all our ministries – and I know that they strive always to make great use of all our gifts to fulfill the mission of our parish – to renew all things in Christ.
We make our gifts to the parish through electronic giving each month. We are making the decision to support Saint Pius as a key part of our overall family financial plan – and not just randomly week by week or month by month. For us that has been important – our support is intentional and we manage the amount we give very specifically.
If you are already supporting the parish, and almost two thirds of you are – thank you. I hope you might prayerfully consider the level of your support, and if now might be a time to consider increasing it. If you have not yet been supportive of the parish, I hope you might consider now as a time to become a contributing member of the parish, at whatever level could be right for you. Every gift matters, as every gift builds up the faith community of Saint Pius.
We are thankful to God that we are part of the Saint Pius community, and thankful to Him that we are able to support the parish. May God continue to bless this special parish community, and may He bless each of our families within it.
Thank you.