Responding to God’s Gifts

Posted in Children and Parents, Exploring Orthodoxy, St. Aidan Community, Youth and Young Adults | Tagged , , , - by Rebecca

Lenten Giving:

All of life is a gift, a free gift, given to us by God. This one basic truth frames our relationship with God and one another. It also contains the most important truth about stewardship. If we believe that all we have, even life, comes from God as a free gift, then it is equally true that the only way we can give back to God is freely. We all know that gifts, freely given, are better than gifts given because we must! Consider the greatest gift ever given — our Lord’s free gift of His life for us (cf. Romans 5). Now consider that Jesus has given us charge of His creation by calling us to be good stewards of this world — to care for it, preserve it, and protect it. The first place we are called to care for is the Church, the one place where man encounters God in the most personal way, by communing with God in the Holy Sacraments. Voluntary stewardship means that we are free to choose. We are free to say Yes or No. We are free to accept Christ’s life as our life, or not. But because our Lord loves us so much, He also shows us that, although we are free to say no, it is infinitely better to say YES!

One idea for giving is to create or decorate alms boxes. These can be purchased already made at a local craft store and then decorated, or can be made from cardboard boxes. Choose specific projects in the Church that this money will help support. This can be for a project that is ongoing at the church. The funds could be used to support seminarians, to help with a building project, to purchase candles, to buy food for a food closet, or to raise funds for camp scholarships. Other ideas could include using the money to help with meals for elderly parishioners, combined with a visit or cards from the students. This should be done with the needs of the parish in mind and should receive the blessing of the parish priest before beginning. (excerpts from https://www.oca.org/the-hub/catechical-themes/orthodox-stewardship-responding-to-gods-gifts)

Alms Boxes can also be used for projects in your community, your country and for international projects.

Let your heart lead you.