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CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” With those two short sentences, Jesus reminds us all of our Baptismal and Stewardship callings. It is important that we remember that these two brief sentences occur in Holy Scripture just after the Lord has taught us the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who hunger… Blessed are the merciful.”

Today’s Gospel reading is a small part of Jesus’ longest oration in all of Holy Scripture — His Sermon on the Mount. In so many ways this Sermon is a stewardship presentation. If we just focus on the two pieces of advice the Lord gives in the four verses of today’s Gospel, we go a long way to both understanding and achieving stewardship.

If we bring meaning and enhancement to the lives of those around us (salt), and if we provide love and joy to them (light), we will have gone a long way to fulfilling what Jesus has exemplified that we must do. We will indeed have responded to Him as He wished — as disciples and stewards. Shakespeare even understood this thought as he wrote in the Merchant of Venice, “How far that little candle throws his beams. So shines a good deed in a weary world!

 

Copyright © 2014 www.TheCatholicSteward.com

Reflection on the Gospel-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 9 February 2014 (Matthew 5:13-16)

In today’s gospel, Jesus addresses two short parables to his disciples in the presence of the crowds. The crowds as well as the disciples hear what he has to say. Parables were intended to tease their hearers, inviting them to see things differently or from a new perspective, to see themselves in a new light. One of the difficulties for us is that Jesus told these parables in early first century Palestine with its particular symbol system, while we hear them through the multiple layers of our own twenty-first century contexts and symbol systems. ‘Salt’ and ‘light’ have slightly different resonances in different contexts, as do ‘earth’ and ‘world’. Exploring those resonances or nuances can bring us to a deeper appreciation of the text.

This short reflection allows for a focus only on ‘the salt of the earth’ parable or metaphor. For Jesus’ Palestinian audience, salt was used to preserve and season food. It also functioned as a cleansing or purifying agent. It could only lose its savour if contaminated by additives. We can resonate with all of that. For some of the Jewish rabbis, salt signified wisdom: a ‘salted’ disciple was a ‘wise’ disciple. In some parts of the ancient world, as in Pakistan today, salt was used in dyeing processes as a way of intensifying as well as preserving the colour of fabrics. Many Westerners are not aware of this practice. Farmers today are rightly concerned about high levels of salinity in overworked soil. That was certainly not the case for first-century Palestinians.

When we declare someone to be ‘the salt of the earth’, we are generally referring to the sheer goodness of the person in question, her/his down-to-earth reliability, lack of pretentiousness and practical wisdom. To be salt of the earth is to season the earth community, to intensify its beauty, to be wise in one’s judgments, and just in all one’s dealings. This parable, with its multi-layered symbolism, certainly teases the mind.

In the original Greek, the emphasis is on the first word in the sentence. Jesus is telling his hearers, disciples and crowds, that they are the salt of the earth. They do not have to become the salt of the earth; they are the salt of the earth. In short, he is affirming their worth. In its literary context, that assertion contrasts Jesus’ followers with those who might persecute them. It affirms their capacity to stand strong in the face of opposition, ‘for the sake of justice’. If they allow themselves to be overwhelmed or their commitment to be shaken, then the ‘salt’ will be contaminated and the ‘earth’ cannot be seasoned.

 

In Pope Francis’s exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, he talks of ‘joy’ as a requirement for evangelization, and how ‘personal dialogue’ is needed for any authentic invitation into the faith. He says trying to spread the Gospel without personal encounter with Jesus is useless. On the Welcome Desk in St Anne’s Church is a 2014 Calendar of events run by the Archdiocese. You are very welcome to take a copy.

Last Wednesday evening fourteen of us held our first gathering for 2014. We began by praying and then continued to have a very productive meeting with some new proposals including discussion on the Overseas Humanitarian Project as voted on at our Parish Assembly, the Expo of our Parish Ministries on 16 February and a pilot development of several neighbourhoods.

The envelopes are available for collection this weekend. Please collect you new envelopes at each Mass.

We thank Jim Reilly and the volunteers who collated the Thanksgiving envelopes two weeks ago. Without the support of volunteers, our parish would not be able to function. We are very grateful.

CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord occurs 40 days after the birth of Christ. In Jewish tradition the parents of a baby were to “present” the baby at the temple on the 40th day after birth. This is a celebration that has occurred in the Church from the 300s.
More important to us, as reflected in the three readings today, is embracing the Lord as our Savior, acknowledging that He is both God and man, and striving as good stewards to be like Him in many ways. Notice how Simeon takes the Baby in his arms, holds Him, and declares, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
One of the difficult things for us is to see that same salvation and to go in peace. Stewardship is seeing the glory of our Savior and striving to live out our lives with total trust in Him. As Catholics we need not only to understand our callings, but also to live them out.
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Three things are necessary for our salvation: to know what we ought to believe; to know what we ought to desire; and to know what we ought to do.” Sharing our time, talent, and treasure with God and our parish is what we are to do.

Copyright © 2014 www.TheCatholicSteward.com

The Australian government is in effect conducting a campaign of cruelty towards asylum seekers, the Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Bishop Christopher Saunders, said on 23 January 2014   ‘The government’s campaign, like that of its predecessors, has only one purpose: to deter desperate men, women and children from seeking protection from persecution and danger’, Bishop Saunders said.
‘The government claims that it is fighting a war’, Bishop Saunders said. ‘If it is a war, then it is being fought against wretched and defenceless people.’
‘We are ignoring the most important issue: the millions of people in our region and around the world who need protection and security.
‘The only hope for a solution to the refugee problem is international cooperation’, Bishop Saunders said.
‘Australia’s policies are undermining and destroying that hope by angering the very nations we need to work with.
‘It seems that friendly relationships with our neighbours are becoming collateral damage in pursuit of an aggressive and callous policy’, Bishop Saunders continued.
‘Can we be surprised if Indonesia is offended when Australian naval ships stray into its waters, or when we ignore its protests and force boats to turn back to their sovereign territory?’
Bishop Saunders quoted recent words of Pope Francis, who said: ‘Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity’. The Pope called for us all to move away from ‘attitudes of defensiveness and fear’.

Parish Bingo has resumed on Thursdays at 8pm at the Sunbury Football Club in air conditioned comfort.
Final prize is $200.