Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C
Stewardship Connection
In our Gospel reading from Luke, some disciples of Jesus ask our Lord to teach them how to pray. Jesus instantly offers them the beautiful prayer which we, of course, know as the Our Father.
The Our Father truly is the ultimate steward’s prayer. In it, we call upon God in an intimate way, as Father. We ask that His will be done (not ours!) and that His kingdom come (not ours!). In other words, we remember that He is our Creator, everything is His, and our focus in life should be on His priorities, not our own. Then we ask Him to supply our needs (to give our daily bread), forgive our sins, and protect us from evil. That is, we proclaim our complete trust in His provision for us and mercy towards us. We, too, commit to extending mercy ourselves (as we forgive those who sin against us).
As we pray the words of the Our Father, we recognize this basic truth about ourselves and God: God is our Father and we are beloved and infinitely blessed to be His children. This is the basis of a stewardship way of life.
At the end of the Gospel passage, Jesus encourages us to pursue a relationship with the Father: Ask Him, seek Him, knock on His door!
He can hardly wait to bless us, His children. Remember that this week, then go, be a blessing to others! Stewardship is just that simple.
Pastoral Pondering
One of the blessings that we have at St. Mark is Perpetual Adoration. Monsignor Bellows had the foresight to realize that adoration can be (and should be) the powerhouse of parish life. I have experiences countless folks who simply stop in to visit with the Lord, including non-Catholics and non-Christians. The one individual that often comes to mind was a man of Hindu descent who told me that he felt like “God was in that room”. And of course, He is!
With that being said, in order to keep Adoration going, we need regular adorers. We are always looking for new folks to sign up for an hour. At present, there is an immediate need for:
Monday 11am-12pm; Tuesday 3-4 am & 1-2 pm; Thursday 2-3 pm & 7-8 pm; Friday 2-3 am & 3-4 am; Saturday 2-3 am & 5-6 pm
Ideally, we should have at least two adorers for every hour. We are always in need of substitutes. More information and automated sign up can be accessed at stmarknc.org/adoration. Please consider making this commitment for the Lord and for the parish. Adoration can happen because of you!