Dear friends,

Welcome to the month of September, our Stewardship Month here at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish! As I shared with you last year, the month of September, every year, will be dedicated to reflecting on Stewardship so as to make it a culture here. And so, during this month, I am very excited as we embark on this journey of reflection, gratitude, and generosity. Let this be a special time for us to recommit to living out our faith by sharing our time, talent, and treasure with God and with our parish community.

In order to do this effectively and intentionally, it is important for us to understand what stewardship is. As I have shared with you many times, Stewardship is a way of life that recognizes that everything we have comes as gifts from God and must be received with gratitude, cultivated with diligence, and shared generously with others. Yes, it is about using those gifts He has given us – our time, talents, and resources – to serve others, build up the Church, and spread the Good News.

As we reflect on time, let us consider volunteering in one or two of our parish’s many ministries, such as liturgical services, outreach programs, or community events. This year, I would like to appeal specifically for more volunteers for our parish festival. Whereas this is an important parish event, it has always struggled with attracting volunteers to run its various aspects to make it successful. So, let us share our talents, skills, and different abilities with the parish, whether it is through music, art, hospitality, or other forms of service.

And finally, let us give generously to support our parish's mission, operations, and charitable initiatives. In addition to the regular plate collections, we shall also begin from next month, taking special collections once a month, to help with maintaining and keeping clean our compound and our aging facilities. The finance council and I have created a restricted Facility and Development Fund for this purpose.

Dear friends, stewardship matters to me because by living out our faith through stewardship, we will continue to:

• Deepen our relationship with God as we acknowledge His presence in our lives and respond to His call.
• Build community by serving and supporting one another.
• Make a difference by using our gifts to impact the world around us and ultimately lead everyone to heaven.

Throughout September, we will have special events, reflections, and opportunities to learn more about stewardship and how we can live it out in our daily lives. I once again invite you to join us on this journey, to reflect on your own stewardship, and to consider how you can share your gifts with God and our parish community.

Let us come together to make stewardship a way of life here at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish. I look forward to walking this journey with you.

I love you!

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