Driving Down the Boulevard
Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM,
Pastor
Letter from the Pastor
January 28, 2024
Driving Down the Boulevard
The other day, while I was driving down the boulevard from St. Francis Church church back to the friary it struck me how luck I am to be in this parish and to live on Long Beach Island… and how great the “quieter” boulevard is this time of year. It does make my 5-mile “commute to work” so much easier! (LOL, as we would say in text parlance.) I guess we are all on that boulevard of life heading toward the Kingdom. Sometimes there are traffic lights that hold us up and sometimes it is smooth sailing. Either way, it’s all good.
I would like to share with you a few “road signs” of what’s coming up a bit farther down the boulevard.
As you know, we began the first phase of our Stewardship program last Memorial Day Weekend. We focused on treasure in the hope of stabilizing our income for the operation of the parish. Treasure, however, is only one leg of the Stewardship tripod of Time, Talent, and Treasure. On February 14th, Ash Wednesday [along with St. Valentine’s Day,] we will introduce the other two legs of Stewardship: Time and Talent. Lent traditionally calls us to renewal through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These three pillars of Lent fit very well with the Stewardship three, with a bit of a stretch to include serves to others when looking at our talent.
Time: As a parish community we will be asking ourselves how we use our time. Although if may feel like it “flies by” or “drags on,” time is one gift that once we use it, we never get it back. In that perspective, it becomes important to look at how we use our time and specifically, how we use our time to grow closer to God. What is our prayer life like? Am I able to reflect on the real meaning of my life or am I “too busy?” Do I spend time with those I love and those who love me? So many things can get in our way, and we might not even realize it until it’s too late.
Our Stewardship Committee, with the help of Sr. Pat McNiff and Fr. Scott, will help us look at those questions as well as provide us with some suggestions on how we can use our time to grow in our relationship with God and with others.
Talent: When we speak of sharing our talent, please know that it does not mean that we will be bringing back “The Gong Show.” We will not be asking you to stand in front of an audience to sing your favorite song. Sometimes those should remain in the shower. No, this leg of Stewardship is asking us to look at our talents. What are we good at? What do we like to do that can help build up the community, those around us, and our church? During this phase we will ask ourselves how we could become more engaged at St. Francis as well as the larger community. As a Eucharistic people, community is what it is all about. We are not alone. But that also means that we have to engage the community and share a part of ourselves so that we all become stronger, better, and truly Eucharistic. As we take an inventory of our talents, we must also ask how we share them with others and not put them under a bushel basket.
These two legs of time and talent will be presented to the community online as well as with hard copy pamphlets in the church. I offer you a sneak peak into what will be coming down the boulevard in the hope that you may start to think about it. We all have time, and we all have talents. Let’s use them to make our Stewardship parish even better and our community even stronger!
One final comment. I hope you enjoyed this year’s Christmas book, This is My Body, by Bishop Barron. Sr. Pat McNiff has been offering a series of workshop on how we are a Eucharistic people. Last Tuesday was the second session. The next meeting will be held on February 6th at 7 PM in the parish conference room in the St. Francis Center. It will explore the understanding of the “Mass as a meal.” The final session will be in March when “Mass as Sacrifice” will be discussed. You don’t have to wait until Lent to start using your time differently. Please come and join us as we all grow in knowledge and faith.
Fr. Francis J. Di Spigno, OFM
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