Will your family gather for a family reunion this summer? In addition to being an opportunity for fun and fellowship, a family reunion can be a lived example and a celebration of good stewardship, too! Coming together to relax in the comfort of our commonality – the surnames and family networks and favorite recipes we share – we can also rejoice in the richness of our differences and the great variety of God’s gifts that such a gathering always reveals.
It’s good stewardship to share our heritage, our stories, and our cherished memories with our children and our “shoe-string” relatives. Older generations re-connect and reminisce, and young cousins (often several times “removed”) are introduced and create friendships and good times that will stretch forward in time and be recalled with love and laughter at reunions yet to be planned! Then afterwards, we go back to our homes and jobs and day-to-day responsibilities renewed, refreshed, and reinvigorated by this immersion in our extended family. Good stewards receive gratefully God’s gifts of life and family, cultivate those gifts responsibly, and share them joyfully with justice and love. Sounds like all the ingredients for a perfect family reunion!
Oh, and don’t forget the parish picnic. That’s a family reunion, too! Maybe this year you will choose to wear different colored nametags to show which “branch” of the family you belong to – liturgical ministers, outreach ministers, catechetical ministers, school families, festival volunteers… We have differing gifts, but we are all members of the family of God, gathered to enjoy each other’s company, good food, and the glories of a summer day. Good times – and good stewardship!
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