Parish's generosity during the Advent and Christmas season is remarkable

In this weekend’s Gospel, we hear Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism. In the final verse, we hear a voice from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” This is probably a good reflection for us all…is God pleased with what we are doing? While I have no insight into the God’s thoughts, collectively as a parish, we responded well to his call to care for the least of our brothers and sisters during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Beginning with the Thanksgiving food drive, between the school and parish, over 3100 items were donated for Thanksgiving dinners. A week later, seven grocery carts full of winter clothing items were collected and distributed. During #weGiveCatholic, the parish raised over $25,000 to begin the refurbishing of Utopia Hall. And finally, our Advent Giving Tree returned over $5,000 worth of gift cards that were distributed to area families before Christmas. Is God pleased? I would hope that he’s smiling at the generosity of our parish. The key…don’t stop. Don’t just be a Thanksgiving and/or Christmas giver. Look for other opportunities to share your time, talent, and treasure with others. When I am asked about the people of St. Thomas More, my answer is usually the same, “it’s a very generous parish.” We pitch in when called to help, we support causes important to the parish and we frequently look to help those in need. So, is God pleased? I think we’ve answered the question with our actions.

On a personal note, thank you for the gift and blessing of your prayers during this time. I’ve completed another semester of formation for the diaconate (3 down, 7 to go). While I spend most of my time at my field education parish, I can still feel the support of your prayers and kind words when I do stop in.

God bless,
Jeff Stutzman
Youth Minister