A Letter From Our Pastor
What’s Inside: 2
What Does Stewardship Mean?
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Liturgical Ministers “Honor and Glorify God” in Our Faith Community
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The Three Conversations: An Invitation to Intentional Discipleship
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Time Spent in Eucharistic Adoration Puts Our Relationship with Jesus First
MAY 2021
Introducing
Our Parish Stewardship Newsletter My dear sisters and brothers, am pleased to present to you our new parish newsletter! This newsletter will help us learn how the stewardship way of life is a disciple’s response to the call to know, love, and follow our Lord Jesus Christ. Every month we will share stories that will help us better understand who we are as Catholics and individual members of God’s family. The upcoming issues will feature activities and events happening within our Saint Michael Parish community and how these help change hearts, minds, and lives as through them we grow closer to Christ and to each other. In each article, we will see how Christ is at work within
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us and our community as we more intentionally engage the stewardship way of life. I hope that this newsletter will be a meaningful way to continue to deepen our faith as disciples of Jesus Christ. As we learn more about our faith and how our fellow parishioners are living their faith out in our community, it will bear much fruit and inspire you to consider how you can be more involved in the life of our parish — for some, perhaps this will be an opportunity to try new things. This newsletter will help increase communication as we feature events that are coming up and share a lot of continued on back cover
“The Old Testament is not the only place where we can find references to stewardship. Indeed, of the 36 parables in the New Testament, more than half of them deal with time, talent, possessions, or money. Therefore, if Jesus spoke of stewardship that much, it should be a very important part of our lives!”
S+EWARDSHIP
What Does W
hat comes to mind when you hear the word “stewardship”? Do you think of it as just another way to talk about money? Do you quickly dismiss it as a notion that has nothing to do with being Catholic? Stewardship is actually a concept that is Scripturally based, and is absolutely vital to our life as Catholics. God tells us, in the very first book of the Old Testament, “Be fertile and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and all the living things that move on the earth” (Gen 1:28). What does that mean to us today? It simply means that God is telling us, “This is yours, so take care of it.” One of the first things God tells us to do is to be good stewards of the gifts He has entrusted to us! The Old Testament is not the only place where we can find references to stewardship. Indeed, of the 36 parables in the New Testament, more than half of them deal with time, talent, possessions, or money. Therefore, if Jesus spoke of stewardship that much, it should be a very important part of our lives! As Catholics, we refer to the three
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facets of stewardship as “time, talent, and treasure.” Although these are three concrete ways to express and measure stewardship, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops tells us that stewardship is part of discipleship. Stewardship is a way of responding to God’s call in every aspect of our lives. The Scriptures and Church traditions teach us one important point that cannot be overstated — that stewardship is primarily based on our need to give in gratitude, not on the Church’s need to receive. Of course, both the Catholic Church and our particular parish will always need money. However, we are not asked to give simply to defray costs and fund charitable programs. We are instead asked to remember our need to gratefully return a portion of our time, talent, and treasure to God, recognizing all that He has given to us. It is important to remember that stewardship is a way of life, and not a program. True Catholic stewardship involves an ongoing call to live as followers of Christ. It takes time to find and define personal goals. You can begin by examining your personal
Mean?
commitments to the parish. How do you live your faith in your daily life with your family and friends? How much time do you spend in daily prayer, going to Mass or being involved in parish ministries and activities? What percentage of your income should you give back to God every week? What talents do you have that could be used to strengthen our parish family? In the coming months, we will be increasing and intensifying our education and communication on stewardship. We will be developing a better understanding of how stewardship is a way of responding to God’s call to discipleship. And with God’s help, changes will occur in each of our hearts as we devote ourselves to a stewardship renewal within our parish. Examine how you are currently responding to God’s call to stewardship. If God called you home tomorrow, would He proclaim, “Well done, my good and faithful servant”?
Liturgical Ministers
“HONOR AND GLORIFY GOD” S
aint Michael Parish is experiencing a joyful increase in community members who are willing to serve as liturgical ministers, as more vaccines are being administered and a sense of safety in coming to Mass grows. “We are able to bring back more minister positions and return to a more typical Mass structure,” says Lydia Mahr, Administrative Assistant at Saint Michael Parish. “In the coming year, we plan to reinvigorate our emphasis on developing personal spiritual journeys and growing in relationship with Jesus for each of our liturgical ministers.” In the Mass, liturgical ministers support our clergy with the many moving parts of the Mass. They help offer the community an enriched liturgy with all the “bells and smells,” as Lydia says, “to honor and glorify God and the breadth of His power, beauty, and grace.” “Serving in liturgical ministries also provides an opportunity for laypeople to experience and more fully appreciate the intricacies behind each part of the Mass and share the beauty of those experiences with others,” Lydia says. At SMP, there is a range of liturgical ministries through which faith community members can offer their time and talent. They may serve as lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, altar servers, sacristans, or ushers. They might join the Hospitality Ministry, Music Ministry, Art and Environment Ministry, or the Funeral Ministry. “If I served in a liturgical ministry, I imagine that I would be able to
in Our Faith Community understand the presence of the Trinity in every detail of the Mass more fully,” says Lydia, a parishioner since she was 3 years old. “By practicing seeing Him in the details of the Mass, I believe I would also be able to improve my ability to notice the ways in which God is revealing Himself in my everyday life.” During the past year, we shifted from having an abundance of ministers to having a small handful. Many ministers weren’t comfortable serving during Mass as they were part of vulnerable populations or were practicing social distancing. “Even though we did not need as many ministers for Mass, it still became a challenge to find ministers some weekends for the positions we did have open, especially in the beginning,” Lydia says. As we look forward, now is a wonderful time to consider becoming a liturgical minister and answering the call to bring Christ to others through serving during the Holy Mass. It is a call that we should first discern through prayer. “This calling is not something to be taken lightly since the Mass is the most important and powerful prayer the Church offers,” Lydia says. “By serving in liturgical ministries, you will be welcoming people, administering spiritual sustenance through His Body and Blood, supporting the priest, enhancing the beauty through decoration and song, and comforting grieving families.”
Liturgical Ministers at Saint Michael Parish
If you would like more information about liturgical ministries at SMP, please reach out to Nicole Nussel, Steward of Liturgy, at 360-292-7111 or nnussel@saintmichaelparish.org.
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Conversation
THE THREE
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n 1992, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops composed Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response, a pastoral letter on stewardship. The introduction of this document served as a wonderful description of stewardship as an intentional life of discipleship: “Stewardship is an expression of discipleship, with the power to change how we understand and live out our lives. Disciples who practice stewardship recognize God as the origin of life, the giver of freedom, the source of all they have and are and will be.” Here at Saint Michael Parish, our mission is to deepen the culture of discipleship in our faith community. What does it mean to be “a disciple of Christ”? From Scripture, we know that the earliest disciples had some qualities in common — they supported and prayed for one another, they spread the Good News by sharing their experiences with others, and they had a strong sense of mission. These qualities of discipleship are still alive and well in many of our parishioners today! To help our faith family nurture this understanding of discipleship, SMP has introduced the Three Conversations to our staff and small-group facilitators. “The Three Conversations is all a part of deepening a sense of discipleship and what that means,” says Jackie Shirley, SMP Steward for Faith Formation. “The first conversation is all about prayer and praying with each other, so we share our prayer intentions and then pray for each other. The second is
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Saint Michael Parish parishioners film a short video on the Three Conversations that was shown during Masses in April. The video can still be viewed at the following link — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKhjHHdKI0.
faith sharing — sharing your faith journey. This could be sharing your entire journey or one particular moment when you saw God in your life. The third is looking at how you see yourself living out the mission of Christ, such as volunteering or raising a family.” Last fall, our parish staff went through the Three Conversations model together. Then, they invited 100 parishioners to join two staff members for the process. The program was such a success that our staff then provided a two-hour retreat on the Three Conversations for the leaders of our parish’s 43 faith-sharing groups. These facilitators are entrusted with bringing the Three Conversations to the close to 500 parishioners who participate in small groups.
Jackie loves the way the Three Conversations gives us the tools and confidence to enter into prayer for and with one another, and she is always deeply moved by the faithsharing time. “For thousands of years, our faith has been spread by people sharing their faith journey and what God has done in their lives,” she says. “Seeing what Jesus has done in someone’s life and wanting that for your own life is what brings about real conversion. And it doesn’t have to be a big thing — some of the most beautiful journeys are about how God has always been there for someone.” By praying for one another, sharing stories of faith, and looking to build the Kingdom of God here on earth together, participants in the continued on page 5
ns:
AN INVITATION TO INTENTIONAL
DISCIPLESHIP
Three Conversations often form a special bond. “You’re able to pray with people and be vulnerable with them and share how God is moving in your life, and that is community building,” Jackie says. “You feel connected to people in your group, but also as a whole to our community and to the Body of Christ. We are all struggling in this world and trying to live out that mission and go out and make disciples. So we are called to pray for each other, love each other, and see others as Christ sees us.” With the Three Conversations, members of our faith family gain a deeper understanding of what it means to work toward the SMP mission to place God first in all things, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to grow in holiness through prayer, sacraments and service. While “proclaiming the Gospel” may sound intimidating to some, the Three Conversations brings this important aspect of the mission within our grasp. “I think people hear ‘evangelization’ and it’s sometimes a scary word,” says our Pastoral Assistant for Administration, Chris Peterson. “They have images of people on the street, but evangelization can really be very simple — it’s praying for people and sharing what God has done in your life so people can be inspired and see that they are important in the mission, in moving this forward.” With this in mind, the parish is asking those who have experienced the Three Conversations to find ways to carry these conversations
into their everyday lives. This may mean going through a formal or informal version of the model with one’s family or friends. Not long after the staff went through the Three Conversations together, Chris went home and did the same with his wife and children. They all found the experience deeply rewarding. As more and more of our parishioners experience the Three Conversations — whether on a SMP retreat, through a faith-sharing group, or simply in the home with family, friends or neighbors — our community is sure to grow in faith, mission and intentional discipleship. “We want SMP to be a place where people know each other, know what prayers are needed, and actually pray for each other — a culture where you hear the name of Jesus spoken and hear what He is doing in people’s lives, and where people see themselves as moving the mission forward and building the Kingdom of God,” Chris says.
“For thousands of years, our faith has been spread by people sharing their faith journey and what God has done in their lives. Seeing what Jesus has done in someone’s life and wanting that for your own life is what brings about real conversion. And it doesn’t have to be a big thing — some of the most beautiful journeys are about how God has always been there for someone.” — JACKIE SHIRLEY, SMP Steward for Faith Formation
Parishioners film a short video on the Three Conversations, which was shown during Masses in April.
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Time Spent in Eucharistic Adoration Puts Our Relationship with Jesus First
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A youth prays at the adoration chapel.
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n Matthew Chapter 26, Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, before His crucifixion. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee fall asleep — Jesus asks them, “So, you could not keep watch with me for one hour?” How fitting it is that we have the opportunity to keep watch with our Lord 24 hours per day, seven days a week here at Saint Michael Parish. Eucharistic Adoration means the Blessed Body of Christ is exposed in what’s called a monstrance — the Blessed Body of Christ cannot be left alone when exposed. Thanks to a large group of committed adorers, or those who cover the same hour each week, we’ve been blessed with Eucharistic Adoration at SMP since 2000. In 2003, a visiting priest came to speak about adoration, and on Ash Wednesday of 2003, adoration was expanded to perpetual — or 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Eucharistic Adoration is held in the St. Joseph Chapel. Mike Landowski constructed the wood repository in which the monstrance sits and Julie Ziegler painted (wrote) the icons of the Annunciation of Jesus. Kateri Neal has been covering an adoration hour for all these years. She currently prays at 5 a.m. on Thursday mornings, but she has covered a variety of hours over the years. Her husband, Dennis, started praying with her in the past few years. Kateri is thankful for the gift of Eucharistic Adoration, which Fr. Jim Lee started all those years ago. She believes it has strengthened the faith and vibrancy of SMP. “I don’t know what my faith walk would look like if adoration wasn’t a part of my life,” Kateri says. “I have witnessed so many miracles over the years of adoration, some big and some little. I can always take it back to praying for it at adoration.” Grace Ordos says the adoration chapel is one of her favorite places to be. She very much missed this opportunity to pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She feels blessed to have a weekly hour and to visit when she can. continued on page 7
Eucharistic Adoration
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“Letting God see my heart in adoration has drastically changed and improved my life, time and time again. God offers me consolation in my fears and sorrows, direction in my confusion and stress, and so much richness of wisdom and clarity, with very little effort on my part. I just have to show up and be present to Him.” — GRACE ORDOS “What I’ve seen from being consistent in giving time to God in adoration, is that God is accomplishing beautiful work in my heart, every time I go to Him,” Grace says. Adoration has been an extremely powerful place for Grace’s faith and prayer life. “Letting God see my heart in adoration has drastically changed and improved my life, time and time again,” Grace says. “God offers me consolation in my fears and sorrows, direction in my confusion and stress, and so much richness of wisdom and clarity, with very little effort on my part. I just have to show up and be present to Him.” Grace has seen that adoration makes it very hard to hide from God. A committed hour makes it easier to experience God’s unconditional love. She would invite anyone to try relaxing in God’s presence in the adoration chapel, a distraction-free
and peaceful place. “His presence is so palpable in the Eucharist,” Grace says. “He desires to be seen and known by us, and will richly reward us for all the time that we share with Him.” Stanley Reimer believes adoration can help people re-center their priorities. He tries to attend twice per week if he can. “Having a sacred space in front of the Real Presence solidifies the experience, draws one’s attention to what matters, and helps to decrease distractions,” Stanley says. It takes time to build a routine of adoration, but Stanley believes it is worth it because of the life-changing power of adoration. Rochelle Rothaus says putting adoration into words is impossible. It has impacted her life in so many positive ways since she started attending 15 years ago. “There is a profound change in
my relationship with Jesus,” Rochelle says. “I pray the love I receive being there in front of Jesus will pour out from me and into others.” She is so thankful for the gift of Eucharistic Adoration at SMP. Being able to be in the presence of Jesus leaves her in awe. “I have noticed over the years, since starting weekly adoration, that my thoughts turn to God at all times of the day, in almost every situation,” Rochelle says. “He has become my best friend. Spending time with Jesus in adoration helps me keep my eyes and heart fixed on Him — in times of struggle and in times of joy. Kateri welcomes those who want to grow in faith to consider signing up for a weekly hour of adoration. “If you are looking to change your relationship with God and your perspective of life, adoration is one of the best ways,” Kateri says. “It’s the best gift you can give yourself.”
If you would like to sign up for an hour of adoration, please visit https://smpoly.weadorehim.com.
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PO Box766 | Olympia, WA 98507-0766 (360) 754-4667 | saintmichaelparish.org facebook.com/saintmichaelparish @smp.olympia saintmichaelparish youtube.com/c/saintmichaelparish
Our New Parish Stewardship Newsletter information with you. But I also want to hear from you! In January 2022, we will be conducting a comprehensive parish survey. The survey will be mailed to each home — I ask you to take the time to complete the survey and return it as soon as possible. Your feedback is important to me and will help me and parish leadership better understand your thoughts about our parish. This survey will enable us to focus more clearly on our Strategic Plan, 2026. Another important step in our stewardship journey will be our Annual Stewardship Renewal that will happen this October. The Renewal is our chance to ask ourselves how we prioritize the way we use God’s gifts. We will make written commitments to ourselves and to God concerning how we will be more devoted with our use of time (using our time on earth wisely; making time for personal prayer, family prayer, and quality time with friends and loved ones); talent (using
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our God-given gifts to strengthen the Church through service to parish ministries and other activities), and treasure (the wise and just management of our financial resources; giving a proportionate amount of my income to the parish). As we strive to develop stewardship as a way of life at Saint Michael Parish, our goal is to help each other to grow closer to Christ. All of you have a place here, and all of you have a role to fill in the life of the parish as we live our lives as disciples of Christ. May the Holy Spirit renew and refresh all of us as we work together to build our parish family through the use of our time, talent, and treasure. In Christ, through the intercession of Blessed Pier Giorgio, I love you. Fr. Jim
WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE Saturday: Vigil 5pm | Sunday: 7:30am, 9:30am, 11:30am & 5pm.