March 7, 2004
Genesis 15:5-12,17,18 + Philippians 3:17-4:1 + Luke 9:28-36
Here we are in early Lent, with purple in the church, no flowers or plants, the ashes newly washed from our heads, and ideas of Lenten discipline in the air. For some of us, the traditional practice of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving shape the season. Some of us have just today remembered that it’s Lent and we should “do something,” which probably means “giving something up.” For some, all of life feels like Lent, like a wandering in the desert, like a somber, sober facing into death. Some have given Lent little thought at all. To us all comes the Word of God today. The story of Abraham, a story of Jesus transfigured, and Paul grounding us all in Baptism. If Lent is the only time of year when prayer, sacrifice, and fasting occur, it becomes a long season, or no season at all. It is either a serious spiritual experience for us, or it is no experience at all. It either restores and reforms our lives with practices upon which we can build, or it shames us with the superficiality and empty promises that overshadow our whole lives.
The prayer, the fasting, and the sacrificial giving are all really one movement in faith, not separate and distinct from one another. Fasting without prayer is a diet.
Prayer without sacrifice is lip service. Tithing without faith is taxes. These things weave together for people of faith, and this season is a time to restore some balance where one or the other may have gown slack.
It is perhaps a good time, to look with a critical eye at not only our own lives, but at the life we share as a parish community. We have just completed the second month of this New Year. With the third year of the twenty-first century behind us, it is possible to provide an account of our life together, and in the next ten days a printed report will be mailed to every home. It will be the second year for such an annual report here at St. Mark. Today I want to give you some highlights of that report in person. If it were possible, I would personally come to your home and speak with you face to face. This is the best I can do.
The twelve months of 2003 were not years of numerical growth at St Mark. While 153 families registered into the parish, nearly the same number moved away or were removed from the parish list because of inactivity. We counted 1,103 household at this time last year, and presently include 1,109. In terms of actual Catholic people, there are 3,395 of us, and the average age is still 31. The average Sunday attendance in the past year was 1,270, down from 1400 the previous year. These are curious numbers, which suggest that only one out of three of us attends Mass every week, or that most of us attend Mass only once or twice a month. It is a troubling fact; and it sweeps the nation as I hear that the American Bishops have recognized that faithful Sunday Mass attendance is now recognized as a significant problem.
In 2003 we Baptized 41 children: nine more than the previous year. Twenty-two couples were married here: fifteen the year before. Other such statistics were be included in the report. The sacramental life of the parish is full of the spirit of faith.
I am not going to go into detailed statistics at this moment because it will distort the facts and confuse you. You will receive those shortly. What you will see is that in the past twelve months the building fund income is down because many have begun to retire the pledges. In the same time period, the Sunday collections are up. Some of that suggests that those who have completed pledges to the building fund have continued their giving at the same level by adding their previous pledged amount to their weekly offering. What you will see in number is that our weekly offering income has increased; in fact, by a little more than $200,000 over the twelve months of 2003. Expenses are down for two reasons: no capital improvements nor furnishing purchases this past year since our move into the new building is now complete. There is also one less full time staff member.
The debt continues to be the biggest burden and limitation on our ability for ministry here to grow in proportion to the population. A parish this size with one priest and two full time employees is not likely to be found in this part of the world. There may be an appearance of order and progress, but I want to tell you clearly that it is only an appearance. Things are not happening that ought to be happening, and everything is slowing down administratively. With no director of Religious Education, we are coasting, and the only way to coast is downhill. It is also time in the life of this parish to put worship first, and the musical part of that worship ought to be high priority. Even though a host of volunteers do their very best, God is not getting the best this parish can do. Too many of you stand with arms folded while others raise their voices in song and praise. We are not in the Hotel anymore, yet much is the same. God is getting what is the left, the spare time, and not the finest and best we can do. The facts indicate that we have paid down $145,224 on the principal. In proportion to the total debt in excess of $4 Million, this is a very small amount. We paid $363,541 interest on that debt this year – by my values as the leader here, we nearly spent half a million dollars to buy money. This is going to go on for a long time. For the next eight years we are locked into a payment plan that will see little progress if interest rates remain below 7.5%. Almost half of our total income goes to the debt.
In terms of our progress, there is good news here; but with it comes great challenge. Those 153 new families are replacing nearly the same number of families who have moved on in their lives to other places. Yet, those of you who have recently come need to know that others made sacrifice and commitments to provide for you, and your immediate willingness to take their place and follow their generous lead is imperative.
The challenge each of us faces day in and day out is to put God first in our lives in a real and concrete way. It cannot be promises for another day. It must be now. Last week the Word of God was proclaimed in this church, and you heard these words: “Moses spoke to the people saying: “The priest shall receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of God.” Then the sacred writer in the name of all the people went on to list some of the wonderful things God had done for those people, concluding with these words: “Therefore, I have now brought you the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, O Lord, have given me.”
God receives the first fruits from people who know what God has done for them– not the last or the left over. This order of things is given to us with all the authority of God’s Word spoken by the prophet. In reality, it means that when you buy a car, a house, a TV, a stereo, clothing, take a vacation, or go out to dinner, you do that with what is left after you have given to God, not the other way around. Several months ago in talking about the parish expenses someone said to me: “Father, after making the payment on the Lexus and the SUV, the boat, the lake house, two tuitions, and the house payment, there’s not much left for the church.” I couldn’t get home fast enough that night, and I barely slept feeling like a failure. This thinking and this behavior gives no evidence of faith’s response to the Word of God which I have given my life to proclaim.
We are about prayer here: prayer and worship. It is through prayer that the vision of today’s Gospel first took place. This means that, for the Lukan community and for those who still dare, prayer becomes the way in which the People of God can gain clarity, and see in faith salvation unfolding in their own time. There has been a vision here at ST Mark: a vision of the Kingdom of God lived and shared in a community that gathers every week to celebrate again, because once or twice a month is never enough, for the promise of Easter.
Our Gospel today speaks to the hopes and dreams of everyone who seeks to discover what the true outcome of human history may be. This vision declares that the fate of Jesus, and the church that forms around him, has a happy conclusion. Not only is the death of Jesus seen as his exodus into the life of God, but now it is not just Moses who enters into the cloud of God’s presence, everyone on that hill was surrounded by the cloud. Now all of us who stand before the Holy One and dare to make Him first in our lives, in our service, and in our dreams and visions will know a future of happiness and peace.