October is our annual Stewardship Renewal month here at Sacred Heart. It is during this time that we invite all the members of our parish to renew their commitment to time, talent and treasure and to state clearly how much they value their commitment to Sacred Heart Parish. We also invite people who may be new to our community to get involved in the life of the parish and participate in the work we do as a community of faith. This is also a time when we may feel called to move from one ministry to another and deepen our commitment to our faith community.
At this time, I am reading a book by Chris Lowney, Everyone Leads: How to Revitalize the Catholic Church. He makes it clear that we are all responsible for the vitality of our parish community and need to jump in and take responsibility for the ministries we share. I am asking all to prayerfully review the Ministry Catalogue sent to you in the mail and recognize the invitation to everyone to use their gifts, skills and talents, inviting everyone to lead. It is in the pooling of our time, talent and treasure that we become a powerful force for ministry not just in our community but beyond.
This weekend Jeff Cote will be speaking at all the Masses inviting us all to answer the urgent call to ministry and to recognize the potential of our Catholic community to make a difference in the vineyard of our parish. We are called to be bold and creative in our style and methods of outreach as a parish. I know personally that the gifts we need to reach out to our parishioners are right here among you who are reading this letter and are parishioners here at Sacred Heart. We need to simply walk in faith, step up to the plate and let the Spirit help us to move together and make our community and parish the place God calls us to be.
Next weekend begins commitment weekend when we ask each household to submit their commitment cards. Take the time to speak to each other about involvement in the parish community and let that commitment be known by filling out your Stewardship Commitment card. Again, if you need assistance in filling out the card, members of the Stewardship team, listed below are willing and ready to give assistance to you.