“Thank you Lord for your gifts first to me!”

We have one more weekend for this financial year.  As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, we will most likely end up about $40,000 short of our budget.  You know in your family that when you do not have enough money in your budget to do things like fix or repair, to go out to do something, or even to buy the presents you want, something must change.  I would ask you again to look at the many blessings you have been given by God.  There is your family, your job, your housing, and many more things.  Is your giving proportionate to your gratitude?  Most Catholics tend to give about 1.5% of their income back to their church.  I know we give generously to other very good charities, but giving to the church is not a charity.  It is a gift back to God as a way of saying, “Thank you Lord for your gifts first to me!”  I am not asking you to give from the essential things your family needs.  I am asking if what you are giving is “left-over”, or a real commitment to Jesus and your parish.  Fr. Mike