Henri Nouwen, the author of an acclaimed book: A Spirituality of Fundraising offers us at Our Lady of the Lake some advice for our campaign.

“Fundraising is proclaiming what we believe in such a way that we offer other people an opportunity to participate with us in our vision and mission. Fundraising is precisely the opposite of begging. When we seek funds, we are declaring: we have a vision that is amazing and exciting. We are inviting you to invest yourself through the resources that God has given you - your energy, your prayers, and your money - in this work to which God has called us.”

I came across this piece while researching for this homily. It's about Mahatma Gandhi the father of the Indian nation. In his memoirs he humbly and frankly acknowledged that, when he was fifteen, he stole a little piece of gold from his brother. However a few days later, he felt very guilty and decided to come clean by confessing to his father. So, he took a paper, wrote down his fault, sincerely asked his father for forgiveness and promised never to repeat the offense. Taking that note to the bedroom of his father, the young Gandhi found him ill in bed. Very timidly he handed the note to his father without saying a word. His father sat up in bed and began reading the note. As he read it, the senior Gandhi was so deeply moved by the honesty, sincerity and courage of his son that tears began to stream from his eyes.

St. Francis of Assisi once invited a young friar to go with him into town to preach. Francis and the young friar spent all day walking through the streets and then came home. When the day’s journey was done, the young friar was disappointed and asked “Weren’t we supposed to preach today?” Francis replied, “Son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We were seen by many and our behavior was noted. It is of no use walking anywhere to preach unless we preach wherever as we walk!” He summed up his idea in these words “Preach the Gospel everywhere, and if necessary, use words.” To him witnessing to Jesus wasn’t merely quoting some words out of the Bible from time to time but one who lives by the word of God each day.

As we begin the campaign we are asking each familyto pray about a 5 year pledge.

For most parishioners this is a manageable way tomake a gift that fits into their budget and allows eachfamily to plan ahead.

About 90% of parishioners who pledge choose amonthly payment plan.

We are hoping that every family would consider a “courageous pledge” and one that will help us build anew school, and a new outdoor gathering space.

The readings of today give us a glimpse of how the power of God can transform the most ordinary life and lead a person into ways he never dreamt of.

The first reading describes the transformation of a pagan into a believer in the one God. God called Abraham, a childless wanderer and promised he will make him become Father of many nations and have a wonderful land of his own.

Abraham took God’s providence seriously and trusted confidently that he will fulfill His promise. His faith was strong and sustained. And all he did was to obey God’s commands.

Beloved in Christ, there is need to remind you here that throughout Scripture God has given man a multitude of promises: love, forgiveness, salvation, Holy Spirit, Everlasting life, peace, joy, freedom, growth, encouragement, excellence and strength.

The Together Campaign

People have asked: “Why do we need a Campaign?” “Why are we conducting this campaign with the Diocese?” “I already make an offertory gift when the basket is passed, why would I give to this campaign also?”

Let me simply answer by saying:

1. We are running out of classroom and meeting space. Our school continues to grow: adding a 2nd grade class in the Fall. Our goal is to add 1 grade each year until we are full K-8 school. The HFPC will become the Early Childhood Center as the older students move into the new classrooms.
2. Conducting a “combined campaign" with the Diocese has been more than 2 years in the planning. Approximately 20 other parishes have very large building projects like ours. They are also conducting combined campaigns. There are many advantages to this approach.
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Question: What is the difference between the Together Campaign and the annual Charity Development Appeal (CDA)?

Answer: Every diocese in the United States has their own annual Bishop's Appeal to fund ongoing ministries throughout their diocese. Each diocese does this independently. Our annual campaign is called the CDA (Charity and Development Appeal). We announce it every year in early February.

Last Wednesday we began the 40days program of Lent. A spiritual exercise organized by the church to bring us closer to God, to heal our broken relationships with Him and our fellow brothers and sisters. It is a special spiritual discipline also to strengthen our faith in the Lord Jesus, for Lent will mean nothing if we do not believe in Christ.

Indeed, Lent is a time to become more deeply aware of our faith and to deepen that faith by practical actions. The Book of Deuteronomy reminds us that our faith is in response to God’s action in our lives. And that means that once again we must face this question: Do I see that God has acted in my life? Our Jewish ancestors in the faith had no doubts that God had acted in their lives and in their history as a people.

As we get set this week to commence the discipline of LENT, l feel it's important we ask ourselves how we have been growing in the faith, and we do this by checking whether Jesus’ teaching is taking root in our hearts. A sincere self-examination of oneself l believe will help one to have a fruitful Lenten season. We always set aside this season to declare spiritual war against all our sinful inclinations. Today's readings have given us a lot to think and pray about.

This weekend marks the beginning of our Campaign Together Let us Go Forth Juntos Sigamos Adelante! Thanks to all those parishioners who gave us feedback back about the campaign goal, the projects and any aspects of our parish community.

The Feasibility Summary Report in last week's bulletin is also available here.

Our goal: $4.4 million for new parish buildings:

1. a new School building that will include classrooms and offices
2. a covered Pavilion that can be enclosed in the future if desired

Campaign pledge cards will be available after Mass in the weeks ahead where we will be sharing the 1st drafts of the architectural renderings.

I cannot but totally agree with Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, A Jesuit Priest who maintains that human beings like other animals and plant species are also endangered. He revealed that what is threatening the survival of the human species in today's world is not nuclear and atomic bombs; it is the absence ofsomething more basic: love. That the unwillingness to love one another as God wants endangers the entire human civilization and existence on this planet earth.

One of the most difficult things to do in this present dispensation is to relinquish our control to someone else and depend totally on that person to lead and guide us. This is difficult in our age to do because education and learning have become idols to which people increasingly bow to. We live in a time of exceeding pride in human knowledge and accomplishment. We are also surrounded by a culture where the desires and rights of the individual are considered the greatest good—where I can have whatever I want or be whatever I want, as long as it doesn’t harm others or keep them from their own desires. Many see this as a perfect argument against the existence of God and hence cannot accept to surrender to Him the control of one's life.

It's the prerogative of God to choose whosoever He desires to work for Him. Sometimes it doesn't matter the personality of the person, his background, age, status or even his abilities. The Bible is full of stories of how God has called people in different ways and times and even some with evident disabilities like Moses and questionable characters to carry out his task.

We all like to be affirmed and lifted up. We all want to be told how good we are and that we don’t have problems in life at all. Often times we prefer to listen to a message that makes us feel secure and contented and not that which will expose our weaknesses or challenge us to a task.

You will all agree with me that out of all the WORDS known to humans, there is nothing more powerful than the WORD OF GOD. Even Philosophy with its unending questions can never be compared to the Word of God. Some scripture commentators even suggest that if one takes all the prominent speakers from all ages and compare what they have said to what God has said, one will discover that their words are just as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.

Today’s gospel sees Jesus begin his mission. Now, for the first time, Jesus can go public, and we begin to discover the power of God at the wedding feast at Cana. AT this wedding, Mary, the mother of Jesus was invited, as well as Jesus himself and his disciples. As the wedding feast went on, the wine ran out. Mary went out of her way to intercede with Jesus and Jesus performed what John tells us was His very first miracle.

Today we reflect on Jesus' baptism. For some time now we have been talking and celebrating Jesus as an infant. Today we begin celebrating Him as an adult. This we begin with His first public appearance as an adult, his baptism by John the Baptist in the river Jordan.

Epiphany means manifestation. We celebrate therefore the manifestation of our Lord Jesus to the whole world. After being made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem, he is revealed to the Magi who have come from the East to adore him. In fact, the Christian tradition sees the Magi as the first fruits of the Gentiles; to whom Christ the Savior of the world was revealed to and that makes today our Christmas.