Good Morning - My name is Shelly Sosa and my husband Carlos and our family have been members of St Andrew for about 12 years now. Believing without out Belonging looks a little like the first year we attended Sunday Mass here and it would kinda go like this….we would arrive right on time…never too early because then….people would try and “talk” to us….. we would sit near the back of church and right before we left our seats to receive Communion, Carlos would lean over and whisper in my ear (I am going to throw him under the bus right now) grab your purse” and out we would walk after receiving Communion “fulfilling our duty” for the week. About a year into this program I said that I wasn’t going to Mass anymore. If we were going to continue to remain on the periphery - count me out! Shortly thereafter (funny how that works…) we were invited to a newcomer dinner after a Saturday Mass at Bernie and Donna Hardtke’s house. We had dinner with 3 other new couples and several long standing parishioners who were invited by the Hardtke’s to talk about their own involvement with the church – all of a sudden we KNEW 18 people at St Andrew. Not long after that dinner, my husband joined Men’s Club and the choir, I became active in the Altar Society and taught Children’s Faith Formation. WE NOW BELONGED. People knew who we were and who those two wild boys belonged to!

Our daughter Dawn went through RCIA here at St Andrew, got married and had her three girls baptized at our Church. One of the greatest gifts of BELONGING happened when our granddaughter was born at 26 weeks weighing only 1 pound 12 ounces – in spite of the odds against her, through the prayers of this entire parish, Father Young who baptized Ava when she was just two hours old, and of course a miracle from God, Ava Marie is now a thriving Kindergartner at All Saints, perfect in every way. This Church we now BELONGED to had lifted Ava up in prayer for over 3 months until she was finally brought home. People weren’t just praying for a name…..they were praying for Dawn and Eric’s little baby girl, Carlos and Shelly’s granddaughter .. a child whose name they knew because we BELONGED.

After listening to Father Jack go on and on about confession and what a wonderful sacrament it was, I went to confession which for me was a rare event. It was actually nice and peaceful and Father Jack was very gentle and kind, not scary at all! As my boys always say after confession, “I feel so clean!” I wonder what they are telling Father? A while later while I was “confessing” again I was complaining to Father….that’s how I roll! …that I had yet to experience a moment where I knew what God wanted me to do and was listening and answering me…..at least not that I had ever noticed. Father Jack told me to start praying for 10 minutes a day and see what happened – 10 whole minutes? Could I read something? “NO” Father Jack said….”just pray Shelly” – he’s a very patient guy our Father Jack - so I started praying. In the meantime I was asked by a fellow parishioner if I would consider taking a leadership position in the Stewardship Commission – surely there must be someone more qualified for that position than me… I answered no thanks. In my head I said to myself that I would never volunteer for such a position but if Father asked I would not tell him no……less than a month later, the phone rang – yikes I was receiving God’s message - my prayers were being listened to…..kinda freakin me out there…in a good way but freakin me out a little too!

As the chair of our Stewardship Commission, I was able to attend the training session regarding this year’s Stewardship Renewal and had an opportunity to listen to how other churches in the Archdiocese run their commitment drive that parishioners make on the pledge cards. How can I say this and be politically correct? Do not be afraid to fill out a pledge card here at St Andrew for an amount that at this time you believe you can honor. If your financial situation changes and you cannot fulfill your commitment you will not be contacted by anyone in this parish. The pledge card is not a monthly bill with staff calling to dun parishioners if they fail to pay what they pledged. It is understood that situations change and only you know what your family can contribute. The pledge card is just a way for the parish to “estimate” donations and make budget plans accordingly. If after prayer and thought you feel that you are unable to make any financial commitment at this time, just check the box for prayers and turn the pledge card in with your name so that we can report the percentage of parishioners who participated to the Archdiocese for their records. And no amount is too small to put on the pledge card – if your family can afford $1.00 or $5.00 a week, and you haven’t ever thought to put that amount down and turn it in ..don’t forget that there are 1600 families in this parish and if 1000 families put down $1.00 a week, that adds up to $4,000 a month that can be budgeted. $5 a week from 1000 families = $20,000 a month. Imagine a new Hall!

Participation ebbs and flows depending on what is happening in your own family, kids, sports, many of you know our sons play competitive ice hockey and we’ve been running around with them for years, thus our own involvement here at St. Andrew sometimes ebbed and that is okay because there are others who can help.

The reality is that we are all called to serve God wherever we are in life. Don’t let the perfect image of how you see yourself serving God rob you of being a more active steward now. Do what you can whenever you can and not only because the Church needs the help, but for that wonderful warm feeling you will get deep in your heart after you know that you too BELONG here. There is a craving in all of us for that warm feeling because it’s Jesus you know…..changing one heart at a time. Sometimes we don’t recognize what we are craving, so we do lots of other things to try and fill that empty hole to satisfy ourselves, but I promise you that when you BELONG what you crave will be filled to overflowing. Warning….this craving may become addictive!

BELONGING LEADS TO BELIEVING.

That is the slogan of our Stewardship Commission and here at St Andrew it is easily done. There are so many ministries to choose from – surely one that will be a fit for each of you. St Andrew has a great website with a wealth of information on the ministries, and our weekly bulletin lists the Leaders of each Ministry and their phone numbers. Send an email or call the leader of a ministry that interests you or you can call me, and between us we will find your perfect niche!

Please prayerfully consider what you can contribute to the Stewardship Commitment Renewal and no matter the amount, please fill out a card and participate.

Thank you.