Giving of our first fruits is often difficult!

First fruits of time, talent, and treasure. What are first fruits? Giving of what we have before we start divvying it up to give and/or spend in other ways. If we get 24 hours in a day, how much of that time will be spend with God?

We're called if we think about tithing to give 10% of what we have to God. Are we willing to give 144 minutes per day to God. Then we can subtract out however much time we need for sleeping and work/school. Whatever is left is ours. Maybe 10% seems a bit much, so even just giving 1% means giving God 14 minutes each day. Do you give God 1% of your time every day?

What about giving our talents. We may have many gifts and talents, which are given to us to use to glorify God. How can we give of those talents to the building of God's kingdom? We should somehow return gratefully what we have to God.

Lastly, our treasure. Check out this video  and think about what you need versus what you want...

Child See, Child Do!

As children learn to do things they observe those around them and see how they do things. Many children learn to talk, eat with silverware, and do so many important things through the use of observation. Set an example that you will be proud to have your child follow.

I would strongly recommend that everyone teaches their children through their actions.

Stewardship is something that children will (hopefully) learn through the examples around them.

Fr. Patrick Peyton, who was involved with the Family Rosary Crusade, once said, “A family that prays together stays together.” As a child my family used to gather in one bedroom to pray before bed together. Whoever's bedroom we prayed in was the person who was allowed to choose which prayers we would say. I learned about the importance of having a dedicated prayer life from the example and the importance my parents placed on that time every single night.

Who is working behind the scenes?

Stewardship of Thanks

Have you ever thought about who does the behind the scenes work at St. Hilary? When there's a funeral and flowers die--who makes sure they are disposed of? For parish meetings, who takes care of the set up and tear down after? Who makes sure there are little papers and sharpened pencils in the pews for those who are new or forget their envelopes or need new information about St. Hilary?

Since today is Thankful Thursday I'm going to recommend that we take time to notice who does these things and say thanks--even if it's only once in a while. Say thanks if you notice someone preparing something. Send a note to someone that you notice does a great job, whether they're a volunteer or not. We all take pride in what we do more when it's noticed and attention is called to it!

Who disposes of dead flowers?
A variety of people tend to this, but mostly people that have a few extra minutes to compost the flowers and break down the arrangement. Some will pull out the dead flowers and leave the rest until it's no longer salvageable, other times the arrangement is broken down, composted as it's able and disposed of. Special thanks to Meg Hopp, who has been caught most recently helping with this task.

Who takes care of the set up and tear down for meetings?
This is a question is usually answered with the names of our maintenance staff: Wayne Weber, John Morris, Ryan Bisheimer, Adam Glaus, and/or Chuck DeWitt. 

Occasionally groups have it worked out to clean up or set up for themselves. One great example is the Charismatic Prayer Group that neatly stacks their chairs after they finish on Tuesday evenings to prepare for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd that meets on Wednesday mornings.

 

Who makes sure there are little papers and sharpened pencils in the pews for those who are new or forget their envelopes or need new information about St. Hilary?
Usually this task is done, lovingly, by three dedicated parishioners: Connie Donateli, Shirley Frater, and Lynda O'Neil. Every week Connie, Shirley, and Lynda meet and check the tiny pew card holders to be sure they are stocked with information and sharpened pencils. That's definitely a job that's important, but probably goes unnoticed most of the time. The pew card holders were donated several years ago by the Parish Foundation, so special thanks to them too!