Deacon John’s Stewardship Blog

The foundation of the spirituality of stewardship is to be thankful for all that God has given to us. We are all called to respond to these beautiful gifts with grateful hearts.

Thanksgiving will be here soon and there is no better time of the year to express to God just how thankful that we are for all he has given to us: our families that stand by us in both good as well as difficult times; our children and grandchildren who are truly spiritual gifts from God.

The Thanksgiving table is such a wonderful place to join as family, but the very best aspects of the Thanksgiving table remind us of the communion and celebration we share at the Lord’s Table. This year as we gather around our Thanksgiving tables with the ones we love, may we take just a moment to thank God for giving us the gift of his Son at the Eucharistic Table.

God bless,
Deacon John

Last Sunday our Parish School of Religion hosted our Veterans Day brunch. It was an absolutely, wonderful event.  We had the honor to host over one hundred and fifty guests. We are so blessed to have so many veterans in our parish that give us the example of the importance of loving God, family, and country.

I would like to thank Mitchell Fink for singing the National Anthem; Luke Wack for being the emcee; Laura Kruest for making her vision of this event a reality; all our teachers who helped in various ways; for Paul Zuzik (head chef) for planning a world class menu; our kitchen crew and retired Master Sergeant Louie Alessio USMC for planning the program to honor our veterans. I would like to especially thank all the young members of our parish who worked extremely hard with joyful hearts serving our veterans and their families.

May God continue to bless our veterans and their families. May we continue to pass on to our children the values and benefits of loving God, family, and country.

God bless America,
Deacon John Bartos

A very special thanks to our Parish School of Religion staff and students that planned this special event for Veterans Day. I would also like to thank the Altar and Rosary Society for their support as well as all our parishioners who gave of their time and talents to prepare a menu that is simply outstanding.

It is a pleasure and a blessing to honor the great men and women who served our country in our Armed Forces. May God continue to bless your families with good health and happiness and may God bless. America.

Love,
Deacon John

“All my life belongs to God.” This is a concept that can be very difficult for children to grasp, especially to the toddlers whose favorite word is, “mine.”

Let’s start with the definition of stewardship, “the job of supervising or taking care of something that one does not own.” From a Christian viewpoint, everything we have is God’s – we are just overseeing it because he has entrusted us with it. We are being caretakers of God’s kingdom. God has given us the privilege to take care of his things in this world. What an amazing honor!

It is never too early to help your children to grasp this idea. One of the simplest ways children become good stewards is to take care of their things!

Another great way to teach them is to share and maybe do a service project to help those in need. Instilling the concept of stewardship in children early on may help them realize that in adulthood, “Happiness begins with unselfish giving.”  (Fr. Tim O’Neill)

Love,
Deacon John