Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 19, 2003 (Together in Mission Commitment Sunday)	Listen to Audio

The very first thing Jesus did was to proclaim, “Believe the Gospel!” The word “gospel” means “good news.” Today, is there good news? Last Sunday, Fr. Raymond Farré and Sr. Angelica from Santa Teresita came to tell us the good news that our pledges and contributions to Together in Mission help to keep our precious faith alive among the people who live in one of the poorest parishes in the Archdiocese, as well as help to support a quality Catholic education for their precious children – the future of our Church.

Now I would like to invite you to listen to another guest speaker reflect on this “good news,” our Archbishop, Cardinal Roger Mahony.

~ ~ ~ Taped Homily by Cardinal Mahony ~ ~ ~

Each of us is called to be a steward of the gifts that God has given us. Faithful stewardship means that we care for and support our own household, our parish Church. But our responsibility does not end on our own doorstep. All who hear and answer the call of Jesus, “Come, follow me,” have thereby undertaken a life of attentive care and love for all who are our sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ, especially those whom he calls “his least.”

Your generosity in the past has meant a great deal to people like Father Raymond and Sister Angelica, and those whom they serve. I ask you today to make a pledge to Together in Mission that will continue that generosity, and keep hope and good news alive for their people.

The question continues to come up about Archdiocesan finances, and whether Together in Mission money can be used for other purposes, such as paying off legal settlements or Cathedral construction. The answer is that this is a tightly restricted fund, designated by the will of you the donor solely for the purpose assisting the poorer parishes and schools of the Archdiocese. 100% of the money you contribute to Together in Mission will be used for that purpose.

You may have noticed in this week’s Tidings there is a 4-page financial report for the past fiscal year, which gives a detailed picture of Archdiocesan operations and finances. If you have not seen it, it is also available on the Archdiocesan website, along with the complete 30-page audited financial report. If you don’t know how to log on to the Archdiocesan website, you can find a link at our parish website home page, and our address is in the bulletin.

Finally, we have all been saddened by the news this past week of the devastating earthquake in Colima, Mexico. As is our parish practice when disaster aid is requested, we will give 10% of our total collection this weekend for the Colima Earthquake Relief Fund. If you would like to make an additional contribution, please use the special contribution envelopes in the pews, and put it in the offertory collection with your regular parish contribution. All the money collected for this purpose will be sent directly by the Archdiocese to the local Catholic bishop who can direct it to people most in need. Although we thank God that loss of life was relatively limited, many people were injured and many more lost their homes and belongings.

On behalf of all who benefit from your generosity to Together in Mission, I thank you both for your past contributions and for your pledge now.

I want also to thank the students of Our Lady of the Assumption School, and Mrs. Sandra Columbus for their wonderful help.

I want to close with a little statistic I read in the paper this morning. Over 160 million people in the United States do not like football. Thank you , Lord, I was beginning to feel very alone.

© Thomas Welbers, 2003