Covenant of One: Week Three

The internet is full of pictures of headstones with funny epitaphs; my favorite was “Gone, but not forgiven.” Clearly not a happy marriage.

Other epitaphs never actually got chiseled in stone, which is probably just as well. The comedian W.C. Fields wanted his grave marker to say “I’d rather be in Philadelphia,” while the witty writer Dorothy Parker wanted “Excuse My Dust” on hers.

And Winston Churchill suggested “I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”

What would you like engraved on your headstone?

Whether you’re old or young, that’s an important question. So important that year after year the Church asks us to think about it, together with the other great questions of life and death.

As we approach the end of the liturgical year, our Sunday readings make us ponder what might be said about us after we’re gone. What will be chiseled on our headstones; what will we be remembered for?

Today’s readings offer some good ideas of what we should want as our legacy. The first reading, from the Book of Proverbs, tells of the ideal woman, gifted not just with physical attributes, but with gifts of ingenuity, hard work, generosity and love of others.

She’s a model of what is possible when someone uses their gifts and skills well. She shows what a difference good stewardship makes.

The Gospel takes up this theme in the parable of the three servants entrusted with their master’s talents. In this case, a talent was a coin of enormous value. To be entrusted with five, or two, or even one talent meant that you were entrusted with a small fortune.

As we listened to the Gospel, we might have sided with the man who just buried the talent and handed it back. After all, he did show some prudence and care in dealing with someone else’s property. As we know from the current economic climate, the cautious, and even timid, approach can often be the better path.

Yet Jesus turns the story upside down. In a surprising twist of events, the one who buried the talent ends up losing everything, including what was entrusted to him. It’s all taken away and given to the others—because only those who take risks in faith can be given greater responsibilities and ultimately be invited to share the Master’s joy.

So what is the moral of the parable to us? 

First of all, we need to take a look at the company this parable keeps in Matthew’s Gospel. It’s right in the middle of a series of passages where Jesus talks about the last judgment, that final return of the Master that will happen when we least expect it. So let’s not miss that message. Now is the time to invest in the Kingdom of God.

The second message is also obvious: God doesn’t merely ask for some kind of return on all that he has given to us: he expects it. Stewardship of his gifts is an obligation of each and every Christian, not an optional extra.

This Sunday we’re talking about the third and final part of the Covenant of One—the offering of one hour of income each week to the Church. An hour’s wages or, in other words, about one-fortieth of your income if you are retired.

It doesn’t sound like much—but if every parishioner made that covenant with the Lord we would be able to much more than we can at present. 

Our records show that the average weekly gift is significantly lower than what you’d estimate as an hourly wage in our region. We also know that many folks donate the same amount they did a decade ago, without adjusting for inflation or possible increased income.

And, of course, there are a number of people on whose remarkable generosity the parish relies more than we should need to.

The parish needs to be on a sounder financial footing. But I’m not going to talk about that, because that is not the reason why “treasure” is part of the “time, talent and treasure” formula. We do not give mainly because of the need, but because we need to give.

In my so-called ‘spare’ time, I chair the Canadian board of a Catholic charity called Renewal Ministries, devoted to evangelization and missionary work.

My predecessor as chairman of the Renewal Ministries board was the late Bishop Faber MacDonald. He was known and loved for many things, but particularly for his gifts as a fiddler. He presided at the wedding of the famous Cape Breton musician Natalie McMaster, and she in turn played at his funeral.

I'm not sure who told me the story – it was probably Bishop MacDonald himself – but many years ago he organized a fundraising event at which he fiddled in support of mother Theresa. He raised a whopping $35,000 for her work.

Sometime after he mailed the check, he had a very nice letter back from Mother Teresa in which she explained that she did not fundraise – and returned the money.

Blessed Teresa was not ungrateful; but she understood that within the household of faith offerings and gifts have a deep spiritual significance that is not to be compared with the world's way of raising money.

The first two aspects of our Covenant of One invited all of us to grow in faith through an hour of prayer and an hour of service. Today, strengthened by the message of the Gospel, we’re invited to grow in faith by the sacrifice of an hour of income.

The title of our Covenant of One hymn, “What Can I Give?” is not a rhetorical question. It’s a question that God, the giver of all good gifts, asks each and every one of us.

Next Sunday is the end of a liturgical year, and our parish feast day. Let’s prepare with prayer this week so we can make a fresh commitment of time, talent and treasure to Christ, our Master and our King.

Covenant of One: Week Two

As explained in earlier posts, our parish is in the midst of the five-week effort to help us all grow as disciples and stewards. Our "Covenant of One" initiative encourages a commitment of

ONE hour of prayer each week and above what you already offer.

ONE hour of time/talent each week to Christ’s work—of your choice.

ONE hour of income each week to God’s work in our church.

This week we focus on service, making a gift of time and talent....

Then I will make my covenant between me and you

and will greatly increase your numbers.

                                                                                    - Genesis 17

There are only three things that will last forever.  God, God’s word, and people.  Everything else is temporary, and this is most important to consider when we choose how we spend the time in our lives. 

Legendary American Preacher William Sloane Coffin of Riverside Church in New York City once observed, “In the Holy Land are two ancient bodies of water. Both are fed by the Jordan River. In one, fish play and roots find sustenance. In the other, there is no splash of fish, no sound of bird, no leaf around. The difference is not in the Jordan, for it empties into both, but in the Sea of Galilee: for every drop taken in one goes out. It gives and lives. The other gives nothing. And it is called the Dead Sea.”  As Christians we know that the gospel of Jesus gives us life through the Holy Spirit.  This one life we are given is to be shared with God’s beloved world, broken by Sin.

Could you take one hour every week, and let it be counted forever?  What can you do that will enrich the lives of those around you, and the life of our parish community?  Take a moment and consider what you enjoy doing, and what are your passions.  What gifts has God placed in you, and how can these gifts naturally flow out in service?  There is a reason you have a talent, let’s put it into action!

The Matt Fradd Effect

When I watched the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in August, I experienced what's meant by “hitting the ball out of the park.” Yesterday I saw it again when youthful evangelist and anti-pornography crusader Matt Fradd spoke first to priests and then to some 750 other men last night.

Matt’s talk at the Archdiocesan men’s conference MAN ALIVE! is just too rich to summarize here. He addressed the theme of Christian manhood with humour and intensity, holding the attention of his diverse audience from start to finish.

Particularly effective was the question he asked the evening crowd: “What kind of man do you want to be?” After giving the audience time to think, he pointed out that the answers of virtually every man in the church were no different than what God wants for men.

In his talk to the priests, Matt not only summarized just about everything I’d ever learned about sexual addiction, but also provided superb advice for confessors. I had to smile at this proof of the way we've learned to welcome the wisdom of the lay faithful (and the young lay faithful, at that).

Again, it’s not possible to summarize Matt's dynamic 90-minute presentation to priests. But I think I owe it to the blogosphere to highlight some of the resources he shared with us. One of them comes from his current employer, Covenant Eyes, an internet accountability and filtering service. It sounds like a particularly effective means of both limiting and monitoring children’s use of the internet, while providing an excellent resource for adults either to avoid entirely the problem of internet pornography or to deal with the dark places they may already have encountered therein.

The Covenant Eyes link cvnteyes.co/hardcoretruth offers both a free eBook and a free talk.

Matt’s own website The Porn Effect—recently redesigned by our own Vancouver Christian media gurus Glass Canvas—provides excellent tools for both men and women struggling with pornography addiction, educates their loved ones, and offers a ‘battle plan’ with five steps to removing pornography from one’s life.

Of particular interest to priests on The Porn Effect site is a podcast interview Matt conducts with an American priest, Father Sean Kilcawley.

He also endorsed Integrity Restored, the website of Dr. Peter Klepinos, a Catholic psychologist willing to work with clients by phone and by Skype.

Fortify is a video-based program offering information, motivation, and tools in the battle against pornography that Matt also described to the priests. It's inexpensive, and offers 52 short videos that can be watched on a smartphone or tablet, along with some other helpful tools.

A print resource that Matt recommended for priests and counsellors is the book "Treating Pornography Addiction," by Dr. Kevin Skinner. From the sounds of it, Dr. Skinner's explanation of the "activation sequence" would be helpful for everyone to know. You can download the book on Kindle for ten dollars.

I've been keeping track of addiction recovery resources ever since Father Emmerich Vogt's retreat to Vancouver priests introduced me to the Christian roots of the Twelve Steps. (See my posts on Candeo here and here.)  But Matt's brief visit has left me and countless others with a whole new toolkit, for which I'm deeply grateful.

Australian is a language in which I'm not fluent, but I think the best way to close is something like "Good going, mate.. er, I mean Matt!"

"What Can I Give?"

Last week, our parish launched a five-week initiative to promote spiritual growth. We called it "The Covenant of One" because everyone's being asked to offer God each week an hour of prayer, an hour of service, and one hour's wages.

I will post the hand-outs (developed by parishioners) on my blog each week .

One wonderful part of the initiative is a hymn with lyrics written by a parishioner just for the Covenant of One. Each verse develops an aspect of this new approach to stewardship. Our choirs introduced the hymn this week, and for the next month the congregation will sing it each Sunday using cards we're placing in the pews.

Take a look! The tune will be familiar to many as "Tell Out My Soul." (Click on the music for a full view.)