Dear Parishioners,

Stewardship is a comprehensive recognition that the gifts we have received from God are on loan to us to be used according to His plan. It involves us responding to God’s generosity, not because we have to, but because God’s own goodness draws us to respond.

At Holy Spirit, Stewardship is  a way of life that is manifested through the Time, Talent and Treasure of all of our parishioners. Each individual, from the youngest child to the oldest adult, has God-given talents that can be put to use for the greater good of our parish community and those to whom we are called to help.

When coupled with the financial offerings of our parish and an hour of time here and there, our parishioners embody our mission of “making God’s kingdom present in the world.” Here are a few examples of how Stewardship is played out at Holy Spirit:

It was with great joy, on the evening of April 2nd, that we celebrated Confirmation in our parish. We had approximately 60 teens who were confirmed by Archbishop Gregory. In his homily, he reminded the candidates (and those of us present) that we resemble our families. He tied that in with the fact that hopefully, through our Confirmation, we resemble Jesus Christ.  As the candidates came forward, they were each asked a question regarding feast days, sacraments, saints, prayers, or various other topics. While perhaps a bit nerve-wracking for the teens, it was beautifully entertaining for the rest of us gathered. Afterwards, families of the newly confirmed mingled in McDonough Hall for a reception.

If your child is a rising 10th grader, please be sure to register him or her for Confirmation classes during the summer. Classes will begin with the new school year. Contact Heather Triggs for more information.

In the Catholic Church, we traditionally honor Mary in the month of May. My Catholic grade school had a May Pole and a May Queen in honor of our Blessed Mother. When I think of Mary I picture the beautiful statues and paintings of her in blue flowing robes, cradling the Christ Child.vShe has a soft, serene look on her face. Although I find a comfort in this depiction of Mary, she also seems to model a way of being that is completely beyond my grasp. She is held up as the perfect woman, something I can never hope to be, and that always made me feel a little distant from her. However, that all changed recently, and I now see her in another light. 

 

How do you determine the worth of a man? I never thought about this before. I think, in fact, that I stumbled upon the answer before I ever had time to think about the question.

In January I went with my husband to India. Never having had much insight into India’s culture, or cuisine for that matter, I went more or less for a reason to escape the everyday of life. I had just had my fourth child and had come to the slow realization that I would probably not get a chance to travel again for the next - oh - ten years or so. So when the opportunity came up I jumped.  Having brought five books to read, an iPod and a laptop, I was perhaps the only person on the planet looking forward to the long, glorious, uninterrupted full day of travel between Atlanta and Delhi (there were two 8 hours leg plane rides and a 4 hour layover in Paris). To be fair to myself, the stress of a full day of planes, (commuter) trains, and automobiles may have played a significant part in the absolute culture shock that I experienced as soon as I disembarked in Delhi. The feeling of shock took many forms over the course of the following week. The resulting effect of India left me with a great desire to return to experience a people and land that can leave one with much self reflection.