 Fr.
Tom's Tomes May 14, 2006
Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. This day is celebrated once a year to honor all of our mothers. They do so much for each of us and we take this day to thank them for all they do. Their guidance and help is unending and we are thankful to all of them. At all the Masses this weekend there will be a special blessing for our mothers. This week in the mail you will receive a letter asking you to make a pledge to support the ministries of the parish. Each of us have been blessed by God in so many different ways. The talents and abilities we have are not our own but given by God to be used for the good of all people. We are our brothers and sisters keeper. We have a God given responsibility to share what we have with others. It is my understanding St. Columban has not had an annual pledge drive for some time. This drive is asking parishioners to sign a pledge card indicating what is the gift you are going to return to the parish to assist with the ministries of the parish. From the Old Testament we hear stories of God saying to his people to return to God from the first fruits of their labors. This is called a tithe. A tithe is 10%. We invite you to return 5% to our parish, 1% to our diocese and 4% to other charities of your choice. This is broken down in the way so that we as St. Columban can reach out to the many needs of the people of Chillicothe. The tithe is not just for ourselves but is for the people of God. Someone asked me what I though should be the income from the tithe for St. Columban. I know there are 465 families in St. Columban parish. The median income for Livingston County is $32,290. So to figure out what the tithe would be I would take 465 times 32290 times 5% and the amount is $750,742.50. I know we are not close to this figure. However we need to start with those who are coming and encourage you to tithe. From my experience in rural communities the annual income from tithing should be over $500,000 for the size of this parish. That is what I know from my own experience. Can we as a parish do it. Yes we can. We all need to make a commitment and begin to return to God what belongs to God. I know we can meet a lot more of the needs of the parishioners through people making a commitment to God financially, with the gift of their time and talent. There are many needs not currently being met. We need more activities for the youth and young adults of the parish. There is much growth potential for working with the retired and longer living members of the parish. There is also a need for adult scripture reflection and study. There is need for outreach to the people of the community. The list goes on from there. We do have to start somewhere. Let us start together to make a difference in the lives of all of our parishioners. God bless you this week. |