Stewardship of Time at Mass and Prayer

Stewardship involves our gifts of time, talent and treasure. Let’s talk about time.
 
COVID restrictions are a distant memory. Vaccinations are routine, school has been in full session for several years, work routines have become more flexible to adapt to people’s desires for more work from home. New experiences are planned and yet we remember the traditional need to return as a community to our basilica for worship, for prayer and for spiritual comfort.  No matter how much we savor the “return to normal” in the rediscovered variety of our fall activities we can also refocus our attentions on one central truth—our sense of belonging to our parish church that reinforces our faith and restores our souls.
 
As welcome as our new “post-COVID” life style is, let’s focus not just on refreshing our bodies and our minds, but also on what is not new, what is timeless and essential in our parish worship and our individual prayer.  TIME is a wonderful gift that is granted to each of us to return in worship, prayer and service to the Lord and to one another. We are called to spend time with God at Mass as a faith-filled community of believers, in prayer and in service to meet the needs of others and for our Church. We are called to spend time with God in our personal lives through private reading of the Scriptures, meditating on God's holy word.
 
The treasure trove of our Catholic faith is chock full of prayer forms and traditions that are available to all of us. Find a prayer form that works for you and truly cultivate your prayer life in order to connect and build a truly personal relationship with him. You’ll find that the essence of our faith will become clearer and our souls will be refreshed.
 
Let’s start with a renewed focus on a simple routine, attending Mass with our fellow parishioners in this sacred space built by those who came before us, who sat in the same pews we sit in today and who sacrificed to make sure we could gather in shared worship as one community.