How do you spend your time?

There are 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. What you spend your time doing says a lot about the person you are and what you value. Many of us work 50, 60, even 70 hours a week just to make it to the weekend when we can finally rest and relax. Most of us sleep an average of 7 hours a day or approximately 50 hours a week. All this working and sleeping leaves us with a limited amount of time to do the things that we really want to do…like spending quality time with family and friends, hobbies, exercise, shopping, eating, and having fun. What is it that you wish you could spend more time doing in your life? What is preventing you from doing it?

Why does it matter where you invest your time?

Because your heart and soul are ultimately shaped by your actions and habits! Aristotle famously said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an action but a habit.” What you repeatedly spend time doing determines your life habits. Where you invest your time, talent and treasure help shape the person you become and ultimately determines your destiny. 19th century American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said it this way, “Sow a thought, reap an action, sow an action, reap a habit, sow a habit, reap a character, sow a character, reap a destiny. As Catholics our thoughts, actions, habits, and characters must be formed not by the world but by Christ and the Church God founded.  

God is love and love is ultimately found in choosing the good of another person. If we are to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ we must invest more and more of our time, talent, and treasure in Godly things. The spiritual principle at work here is this: the more you give your life away to God and others the more divine life you will receive in return. Find your treasure in God and your heart will follow…

Sacraments

There is no better investment in the world than the local Catholic parish. It is where people meet Jesus, turn away from sin, fall in love with God and lives are transformed.  

Giving draws us closer to God: when you invest in what matters to God you strengthen your relationship with Him. What matters to God are the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God will pour out these gifts upon you when you are generous in giving your life away to Jesus Christ.

Giving grows our character: Giving helps us to better reflect the virtues of God. He has given us everything — not even withholding his own Son Jesus! God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

Luke 21:1-4 “And Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two small coins, worth only a few cents. Jesus said, “Amen, Amen I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all the rest; for the rich gave out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” 

Giving Expresses Love for People: Your investing in the parish makes it possible for people to hear the Good News of God’s love for them. It also helps us provide, through our Ministry and Missions outreach, critical care to the poor and those in need.