Deacon John’s Stewardship Blog

              Stewardship, to us, is realizing that everything is a gift from God, who we are, what we will be, what we have, taking care of all those gifts, making them better, and sharing those gifts. It is said that a gift is not a true gift unless that gift is given away, this goes for our time, talent, and treasure, all things come from God and ultimately go back to God, so consciously giving back to God what we have been given is what we are called to do as Christians. Being good stewards is what we must do to be thankful for what we have been entrusted with.
We are very blessed, inspired and challenged to be part of such a great community here at St. Patrick Hubbard. We constantly see others doing what we are called to do as Christians, it inspires us to do more. We all need to continue to lead each other by example in our stewardship and sharing our faith. It is a gift to be invited into ministry, to share what we have, and knowing that what we have can be of benefit to others, it gives us focus, structure and direction in a crazy and turbid world.
We are refreshed, privileged and honored to be able to participate in the many ways that we are entrusted to do so in our Parish Life.
The Eucharist literally means thanksgiving; stewardship is an extension of our thanksgiving, of what is the source and summit of our faith, the Eucharist. Stewardship allows us to more fully engage in the Body of Christ and to be Christ    to others as a sign of our thanksgiving back to God.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Syl and Colleen Frazzini

Hi, we are JoAnne and Bill Bone. We have been parishioners here at St. Pat’s all of our lives. We both realize that Stewardship is recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God. We can take credit for nothing. Everything we have, and everything we do is a result of some gift that God has placed into our hands. Stewardship to us is returning a portion of our gifts to God. The gifts we return are our time, our talents and our treasure. Stewardship calls us to be ever grateful for the gifts that God has given. Not only are we called to be grateful to God, but we must be grateful to one another.

Stewardship calls us to recognize that just as in the Parable of the Talents (Luke 16:1-8) each of us will someday be asked by God to give an accounting of all we have done with the gifts that have been given to us. Yes, we both try and become good Stewards, always trying to answer the call of God no matter what it is. We both recognize that we already have more than enough. In fact we have enough to share.

       We often hear the word stewardship used in our parish in conjunction with giving of our time, our talents, and our treasure. Stewardship is defined as the job of supervising or taking care of something. We are all responsible for helping to take care of our parish family. Sometimes, it is fulfilling that financial need – giving of our treasure. For our family, our stewardship is focused more on giving of our time and talents, which may outshine any treasure we could possibly give. We are involved in many of the ministries here – Adam sings in both the Adult and Modern Music choirs, Lori plays with Modern Music; we have both participated in CRHP; Lori is a lector; and we are catechists.

As co-catechists for the 7th grade over the last six years, we have had the opportunity to share Jesus’ message with roughly 150 young people. Our greatest hope is that as we interact with these young people, they begin to recognize what an awesome family we have here at St. Patrick’s Church and that we get them interested in helping to take care of this family. Over the years, we have tried to show our students many of the different ministries they join – as we have been greeters at church, participated in the different roles of the Mass, made rosaries to donate to others, sent cards to shut-ins, helping to serve at fish fries or soup suppers during lent, helping with children’s liturgy, serving at thanksgiving dinner, singing with the choir, playing in the bell choir or helping with the Food Pantry.

Giving of our time and our talents is a more precious gift of stewardship; these are gifts to our family that we can’t replenish – once they are given, we can’t get that time back. At times, it is difficult to balance this form of stewardship with everyday life – it means that our priorities have to be different. When we choose to live this life of stewardship, we end up gaining much more than we can ever give.

Luke 12:48 …. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

Lori & Adam Garon

Why Register as a Parishioner?

A Catholic parish is the single most important part of our Catholic Church. This is where we continue the mission of Jesus Christ. This is where we publicly express our faith, joining together with others to give witness of our communion with God and with one another.

Below, are many good reasons why registration is important and valuable for us:

• A sense of belonging and identity in a parish community.
• Provides the parish community with a way to welcome you.
• In times of joy and in times of struggle, it is comforting to have the support of a faith family.
• Gives the chance for you and for your family to be counted and heard in the parish.
• Gives the parish a way to connect with you.

Please call the parish or visit our website (www.stpatshub.org) or pick up a registration form at the welcome table in the front of the church. With God’s grace, may we continue to be a parish on the move in our service to Jesus Christ and Mother Church.

God bless you,

Deacon John Bartos, Jr.