Giving of our First Fruits

Have you ever stopped to think how you spend the 24 hours in a day?

What do you allot your 24 hours for each day? This week I'm taking time to take notice of what I'm spending time on so I can become more aware of where I'm wasting time and how I might allot more time to God. Time for God should really be like time for sleep. If you take the 24 hour day, most people would try to allot 6-10 hours for sleeping (some people need more and some less). That's kind of automatic. If we have a job we probably automatically allot 7-10 hours for work (depends on the day, right?).

After I factor in sleep time and work time I'm left over with between 7-9 hours of time to spend on other things...think about how your days are broken up and what are you giving FIRST to God before scheduling in tv time or "play time."

What  are some of the things you give a high priority to? Does prayer time rank there? Just take time to ponder!

Giving to God this Summer #3

Give of your TIME to Christ:

Spend time in Eucharistic Adoration from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm in the church on the first Wednesday of each month or every other Wednesday of the month from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm in the Reservation Chapel. This is a wonderful way to answer Jesus' own question: "Can you not keep watch one hour with me?"

Contact Carissa Young to commit to a specific hour each week: 330-867-1055 ext. 202 or cyoung@sthilarychurch.org or stop in as you're able

All men, 16 and older: consider attending the Men's Group on the second Saturday of every month. This is a wonderful way to deepen spirituality as a Catholic Man as well as a way to develop community with other men of the parish.

Contact RJ Bradner for more information about becoming involved with this ministry: 330-666-8940 or rjbradner@yahoo.com 

FOR WOMEN ONLY: join the women of the parish for a program on the 5th Monday of months with a 5th Monday, Journey Women. Spend time in prayer, journaling, reading and sharing at Sand Run Park at the Shady Hollow Pavilion. Next opportunity is July 29, 2013 from 9:00 am-2:30 pm.

Contact Beth Rado if you're interested in deepening your spirituality with the women of the parish: 330-867-1055 ext. 206 or brado@sthilarychurch.org

Join a Small Christian Community to pray, share life experiences, grow in faith, and be a source of support to one another. These small groups of 8-12 people usually meet in parishioners' homes once per month.

Contact Pat Schnee for details or to find a Small Christian Community that will fit your schedule and style: 330-867-5008 or patschnee@gmail.com

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...