As we approach our national holiday that blessedly highlights the value of family life for our society, the first aspect of Thanksgiving that we should appreciate as people of faith, and which opens our “Holy-day Season,” I am reminded of how busy a time of year it is for everyone. Of course, I don’t have a family to draw much attention from my vocational and personal life, so that complexity of the family schedule in modern life for most of you is amazing to me. Yet I am conscious that in my particular role in Parish life there is always more to do than there is time in the day. So, like all of us, I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving schedule pause since I do spend it with my parents and extended family. This year I hope to contribute more to the gathering than a beverage or other bakery item. Giving me a tiny example to renew my appreciation of what you who are busy with family life deal with: the squeezing in of all thing’s family, professional, social, faith, etc, etc. Though I don’t mind people thinking the pastor is busy, I always say I can’t be as busy as those with work and family to balance, which includes financial and health concerns of various types.
In my homilies, if I need an example of something I bring to Confession, I often describe my waste-of-time leisure activity that many of you can’t afford: spending my evenings surfing YouTube--watching videos about rockets, jets, cars, religious and social commentary, etc. etc. History, too. Well, it’s not always a waste of time. One “YouTuber” does history and food, showing how to make food from a certain time period, even ancient and Medieval recipes. I’m going to try 1700’s Pumpkin Pie for my family get together this Thanksgiving. It could be disastrous, obviously, and I need to find time to squeeze it in as you all do approaching Thanksgiving.
Which brings me to a major source of my giving thanks this year: all of the time that people in our Parish volunteer away from family and work commitments to make our parish operate. Many people that I talked to at Novemberfest noted the effort and detail taken by our myriads of parish volunteers. I am aware of several unnoticed contributions of time and effort to pull it off, too. This is always the case regarding innumerable dimensions of Parish life. So, thank you all for however you offer your “Time, Talent, and Treasure” to keeping the Parish of the Transfiguration a lively place to be in communion with Our Lord!
Looking toward the future, you will be happy to know that our Parish and Finance Councils are doing deep dives in their areas of expertise. The Finance Council is doing a review of our financial efficiency and will make recommendations of how to best spend your hard-earned donations. Similarly, the Parish Council is reviewing all our ministries and developing recommendations with an eye toward their reinvigoration and where we can promote greater parishioner participation in many dimensions of Parish life. You can see that both these processes overlap when we think back on the events that we have highlighted throughout the summer and fall, such as the volunteers that donated time and effort to improving the facilities and property, social occasions, and, most recently, our awesome and successful Novemberfest. Thank you again for everything and anything you do to contribute to the life of the Parish of the Transfiguration.
May you and your loved ones have a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!!
