December 2006

Stewardship Tip

Time. The first of the three T’s – time, talent, and treasure. And perhaps the most valuable, because once you’ve given your time to someone or something, you can never get it back or be repaid. This Advent, be a stewardship star and plan to give some of this very precious commodity to your parish…

This year, because Christmas falls on a Monday, Advent is the shortest it can ever be, just 21 days, beginning Sunday, December 3. (Last year, when Christmas fell on Sunday, it was the longest.) That means that the 4^th Sunday of Advent is also Christmas Eve, and parish liturgists and ministers of art and environment will be scurrying to change the church décor from the somber purple of Advent to the glorious white and gold of Christmas sometime on Sunday afternoon, December 24^th. Could you give a precious hour that day to assist by placing poinsettias or hanging garland or stringing lights or arranging the crèche or putting out worship aids?

Many hands are needed beginning as early as the First Sunday of Advent. Old missalettes and hymnals may need to be swapped out for new ones. Banners for Ordinary Time must come down to make room for Advent hangings, and the Advent candle needs to be put in place. Perhaps the parish calendars have arrived and need to be stacked in the gathering space, and new boxes of envelopes wait to be arranged in the foyer. Statues need to be dusted, candle stands de-waxed, and votive lights made to shine. Advent begins the new church year and everything must be cleaned and polished, made ready to welcome the King of kings – and all the folks who will come, perhaps just this one time all year, to celebrate the great feast of the Incarnation.

In the twenty-one days of this shortest of all Advents, the church will also celebrate two Marian feasts – the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe. And there might be a Christmas pageant or a school choir concert thrown in, too! Just when families are busiest and happily immersed in their own preparations for Christmas, the people who work behind the scenes at your parish to get the worship environment ready for Mass are also facing their second busiest time of the year. Be an Advent hero! Call your parish today and tell them you’d willing to give an hour – or two! – to help “prepare the way of the Lord” this Advent. You’ll feel good about it – and your liturgist will love you!