Some years on Sacrificial Giving Sunday, I find myself having to do some very creative thinking in order to come up with a connection (or maybe even to force a connection) between the scripture readings and the subject of the day. Not today. The two widows in the readings make creative thinking or forced connections unnecessary. They proclaim the sacrificial giving message loud and clear: Give! Give without counting the cost; give not from your surplus, but from your substance. Give not what’s left over, give when nothing may be left over. Give as the widow from Zarephath gave when she used her last measure of flour and her final few drops of oil to bake some bread for the great prophet, Elijah. Give as the widow of the gospel gave when she placed her two paltry coins – all she had to live on – into the temple treasury.

But let’s get real. What about more worldly wisdom? What about “charity begins at home?” What about “God helps those who help themselves?” Well, it seems that today’s scriptures want to take us to a different place, to a place where faith rules, not fear, where piety has first place, not practicality. In a word, the unquestioning and uncalculating generosity of the two widows is meant to challenge each of us to step back and examine both the manner and the measure of our own giving.

That’s the message today. To make it come to life at this time and in this place, I have invited our parishioners, Jim and Alma Kern, to share some thoughts with you.

Father Michael G. Ryan

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Giving Back to God What He has Given to Us

Jim: Good morning. My name is Jim Kern and this is my wife Alma.

Alma: We have been married for 34 years, 8 months, and 29 days..

Jim: And I sometimes wonder how we have stayed married for 34 years and still be in love with each other even if we are so different- in personality, in taste, and in many other ways.

Alma: I often wonder too. For example, I love to talk. I’ll talk with anyone, for anyone, and to anyone. Speaking 20,000 words a day is normal for me.

Jim: As for me, speaking 2000 words in one day is more than enough.

Alma: I also speak in superlatives. For example, I will say something like: I adoooooore Fr. Ryan and Dr. Savage and then, in rapid succession I would give a dozen reasons why.

Jim: And I instead would sit and ponder the deep messages of Fr. Ryan’s homilies, and the wonderful choirs and organ music without much talking. But there is one thing we absolutely agree on – how much St. James has meant to our lives, and that we will give generously to St. James.

Alma: But for different reasons. I believe in giving as a way of thanking our Lord for all the blessings He has given Jim and me. For example, God has given Jim and me two wonderful sons, a loving daughter-in-law, and two beautiful grandchildren.

Jim: When I fill out the sacrificial giving form, I think of all the ministries and programs of St. James and all the people the parish serves, and I want to help out because St. James has benefited so many people.

Alma: But our commitment to sacrificial giving was not always there. I grew up in a family that was what we in the Philippines call “Katoliko serado” which means, staunchly Catholic. Like all my siblings and cousins, I was educated in a convent school before going to a sectarian university. I have many aunts, uncles and cousins who are priests and nuns. Therefore, I grew up with the awareness that I have to give to the church.

However, when I first arrived in the U.S., I was shocked by the envelopes. I could not understand why I needed to fill out the Sacrificial Giving pledge card. In the Philippines, we did not have envelopes or sacrificial giving pledge cards. We just dropped our money, usually loose change, into the basket. I always thought that giving to the Church was something between God and myself.

It has taken me a long time to really understand the significance of filling out the Sacrificial Giving forms and envelopes. It was not a flash of bright light or lightning that made me understand. It was a process of maturing, I guess- maturing from being contented as a Sunday Catholic to wanting to become a better disciple of Christ. When the kids moved out to go to college, I picked up the Bible first as a way to assuage my loneliness.  The more I read, the more the words took on a meaning that was not there before. I felt a need to be a better follower of Christ and promised myself that I would try to learn more about what a good disciple of Christ meant. Then I started to understand that everything I own and everything that I am is a gift from God and I have been given the privilege to enjoy this gift. So, now, the weekly envelope has become a symbol of giving back to God what He has given me.

Jim: I grew up in a Presbyterian family and not a practicing Presbyterian family either. We never discussed giving to the church. And we certainly never discussed pledging. I was confirmed into the Catholic Church six years ago, and at first I didn’t want to discuss with Alma the idea of pledging and didn’t see the point of the envelopes. I thought dropping money into the basket on Sundays was enough. The church had enough money. It didn’t have to worry about money. After all look at this beautiful building. But you know, over time my thinking changed. And I remember that at one point it totally changed. I started to think how much I enjoy our church, our family of parishioners, the music, the homilies, and the outreach programs. I started to become more involved in church activities including the building campaign and finance council. I learned that with less than 40% of parishioners making a pledge, the church has a difficult time planning without knowing if it will have the funds to continue all programs. I started thinking about our own family. For most of us, our income is predictable unless we are in-between jobs. We know how much we can spend. But for the church, this is difficult without all of us participating in pledging. A pledge is not written in stone, and of course sometimes our circumstances change during the year. But a pledge does indicate the we parishioners are willing to commit to supporting our church and our programs, and to help the church in its planning.

Alma: Do you know the song “Taste and See”? It is one of my favorite church songs. It goes, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. You’ll want for nothing if you ask.” Yes, I can taste and see the goodness of the Lord. His goodness is evident in every facet of my life- in my family, in the people I meet, in the sunset that I enjoy, in the rain that keeps my garden green, in the smile of strangers, and in the beautiful mass that we participate in every Sunday. And because I can taste and see the goodness of the Lord, I do not now mind dropping the weekly envelopes into the basket because it is one sure way of letting my Lord know that, I am entrusting my life to Him.

Jim: And I know that when we pledge we are demonstrating our faith in the Lord, and we are thanking Him for all the wonders of this life, for the blessings he has bestowed on us including this wondrous church and all its parishioners. We are showing that we are truly one family in God.

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For more information on making a pledge for 2007, contact Maria Laughlin in the Development Office