Reaching out: To Christ, the stranger

		Stewardship  Corner  Jay Conzemius

I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter where I helped prepare and serve the evening meal, visited with guests, and afterwards cleaned the kitchen and dining room.

The volunteers began and ended each evening of service with a prayer and sharing stories.

I can remember the first time I volunteered I was astonished by the poverty of the people and the politeness of most of the guests. There were about 40 people, mostly men, a few women, and one family. Most greeted me politely. Many thanked me. One man said, "God bless you" as he accepted his food. Most wanted to talk to someone and share a laugh.

After a few more times of volunteering, I began to recognize some of the faces in the food line, and I learned some of their names and their stories. The first night I volunteered, I was somewhat afraid to speak with people who were unwashed and disheveled. But, I quickly realized that these people are more like me than different. The guys liked football and snicker bars in their sack lunches. A couple of guests had pets. Many told me of their dreams and frustrations.

One sub-zero January day, I remember shivering while serving hot cider to the guests for the evening and remarking "cold" to one man trying to make conversation.

He said, "It's colder than a brass toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg."

Together we laughed. Then he showed me the ski mittens he received at Christmas from a parish Jesse tree donation. He commented to me, "Somebody out there cares for me."

In that instant, I wished the person who had given those mittens was there to hear this man's comment. I also understood my giving in a whole new light. Before, I had supported my parish and some charities financially, but I had never understood just how deeply my good works had touched people. When we make gifts to support our parishes, the diocese, and our favorite charities, we do more than simply fulfill an obligation or keep a building heated. We give hope to the hopeless, we love the unloved. We get to be Christ for another.

Jay Conzemius is director of stewardship and development for the Diocese of Madison. For more information on stewardship issues, contact him at 608-821-3040.

Family gatherings: Graced opportunities

	Guest commentary  Fr. Don Lange

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and other holy days and holidays offer graced opportunities for many of us to gather as "family" and thank God for our blessings.

When we participate in such family gatherings, we enjoy the present of each other's presence. We dine not only on food and drink, but also we feast on stories, family traditions, and fellowship.

Discovering our roots

In doing so, we bond with other members of our family and deepen our sense of who we are by discovering our roots. When we know and allow ourselves to be nourished by our roots, we are free to grow.

Many of us may have gratefully stored the experiences of family gatherings in our memory banks from which we regularly draw inspiration, hope, and direction.

We may recall family gatherings at which we enjoyed the priceless gift of knowing uncles, aunts, cousins, and other family members.

We hope and we pray that we can pass on this tradition to younger family members so they can also enjoy the "graced taste" of family.

Domestic church

Family gatherings reveal the family as "domestic church," where persons are prized primarily because of who they are rather than for what they do, size of their bank accounts, or other status symbols.

Because members are treasured as "unique images of God," everyone is welcome. Graced family gatherings also welcome single persons.

Thanksgiving sets tone

Thanksgiving seems to set the tone for the end of year family gatherings. Continuing the tradition of the pilgrims, we gather with family and friends to share a common meal, to renew and to celebrate our closeness, and to give praise and thanks to God for our blessings.

Since the word Eucharist means thanksgiving, we family members as "domestic church" can give praise and thanks to God by participating in a Thanksgiving Mass or prayer service.

Offering praise and thanks to God seems to come naturally at the Thanksgiving meal. After the meal, some families offer each family member an opportunity to share one blessing for which they are grateful.

Another family invites a grandchild to begin the prayer of grace by reading one of the Thanksgiving messages from the first American president. These are but a few of the many graced ways that creative families can thank God for their blessings at Thanksgiving.

Sharing our blessings

The opening prayer of the Mass of Thanksgiving invites us to be thankful by sharing our blessings with others : " . . . On Thanksgiving Day we come before you with gratitude for your kindness. Open our hearts to concern for our fellow men and women so that we might share your gifts in loving service."

Some of the many ways that we family members might respond to this prayer and share our blessings with Christ in others outside our family include: share a meal with others; visit, call, or write to a resident of a nursing home or a lonely person who seems neglected or forgotten; contribute to a food pantry or clothing drive; respond to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which invites us to "help others to help themselves."

May we also enjoy a grateful Thanksgiving stuffed with the food of fellowship and sharing. May the Holy Spirit help our spirit of thanksgiving to continue through the Advent and Christmas seasons and flow like a river into the New Year.

Fr. Don Lange is pastor of St. Bridget Parish, Ridgeway, and Immaculate Conception Parish, Barneveld.