November 16th Letter from Fr. Jason

Dear Saint Francis Xavier Parishioners,

This is my last letter about stewardship for a while. 1 recognize that it might bring relief to many of us, including me. While I am hesitant to talk about this stuff, it is important. As I have grown as a Christian steward of prayer, service, and sharing, I have grown in my relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

In the area of sharing with God for the Kingdom, I said that there are 4 Ps. The first three are planned, priority, and percentage. The final P is progressive. Each year we are called to look at our sharing in prayer. Being progressive in our sharing means that we increase it each year, even if it is just a little. This year I am challenging myself to increase my sharing by 1% of my income. That means that starting with the New Year, I will be sharing 16% of my income with the parish rather than 15%. I extend the same challenge to all our parishioners.

Back on the weekend of October 25-26, we celebrated Stewardship of Service with the ministry fair. I thought it was a resounding success. I hope that same holds true next week when we celebrate Stewardship of Sharing.

What is being asked of us for this weekend? We are asked to fill out both halves of the "Saint Francis Xavier 2026 Stewardship of Sharing Pledge Card" that is attached to this bulletin. Please do this after careful prayer and thought. The Parishioner Copy is for each of us to keep as a reminder.

The Parish Copy ideally would be returned via the collection basket on Saturday or Sunday. But if you need more time, it can be returned sometime before the New Year. This helps us to plan during the next budget cycle. Thank you for your prayerful help.

Sincerely through Jesus,

Fr. Jason