It is fitting and appropriate as we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, that we do our 2nd follow-up presentation on the church of Corpus Christi, the church of the Body of Christ. When we reflect on the idea of a king or any other type of autonomous leadership through the eyes of our worldly experience we have a tendency to think of absolute authority. In one way this is true of our Lord Jesus Christ, because it is true. He is indeed the Lord, the King of the heavens and the earth. The difference is that Christ our King does not force us to submit to Him, he invites us to enter into literally a servant/master relationship or more appropriately, a parent/child relationship. We are His children and in this type of relationship as we experience it here in the world, there is also a degree of authority as well. There is also in our relationship with our parents the freedom to say no. But at what cost? Most of us would agree that the times we have chosen not to follow the path our parents desire for us, at least at times, things have ended badly. Those who love us desire the best for us, yet we still have the ability and the freedom to say no. This is no less true as most of us can attest to in our relationship Christ the King, the Good Shepherd who we hear about in the First Reading from Ezekiel.
As we move forward putting the resources in place that the Church of Corpus Christi becomes a physical reality in our community, there are two elements that we need to consider. They are both part of the cross that our Savior, Christ the King died on in order that we may have eternal life. The vertical component of the cross is the link between us and our heavenly Father. Jesus dying on the cross became the physical link that connects the heavens and the earth. The horizontal cross bar is the connection between each and every one of us God’s children, (created in His image and likeness) who are called to be in communion with one another here in the world. We cannot have a vertical relationship with God, if we do not have a horizontal relationship with one another, the sheep of His flock.
In other Gospels we hear of Christ the King as the Master of the vineyard and how it is that we the servants are called to tend to His vineyard. The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few. Well, God’s creation is the vineyard and we as His children have been invited to tend it, leaving it better than when we entered it. A great individual in Alberta’s history Grant McEwan once added a short prayer at the end of his creedal address. “I am prepared to stand before my maker, the Ruler of the entire universe with no other pleas, than that I tried to leave His Vineyard better than I found it.” My friends, this too needs to be our creedal prayer and our challenge as well. There are two elements about His vineyard that we must accept in order to move forward in a meaningful way. 1. It is His vineyard. This creation, our community, our families is our heavenly Father’s vineyard, not mine not yours, not the bishops, but His vineyard. 2. If we are to leave His vineyard better than we found it, we cannot do it in isolation, we need each other; we need the horizontal arm of the cross. We need to be in communion with one another on a common mission. We cannot be passive. Our love of God, the vertical, must lead us to action and we need to do it together in the horizontal communal bar of the cross.
We profess to be a stewardship community, grateful for all that we are and all that we have, but most of all we give thanks for the great gift of our Savior, Christ the King. My friends, stewardship in general is not about giving of our time, talent and treasure to a need, but rather it is about our need to give back, to be grateful for all that we have received and then in a conscious and intentional way to give back in gratitude to the Master of the vineyard, the gifts entrusted to us. At this time I invite Ms. Angie Sim a very active and sharing member of her time, talent and treasure within our community to offer us some insights from her perspective.
Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ,
My name is Angie Sim and I am an active member of the Music Ministry and the Eucharistic Ministry.
When Fr. Jim asked me back in the Spring to be a part of the Fundraising Committee to build a new church, I was honest enough to say to him that I couldn’t say ‘no’ to him and really didn’t know where this would lead me. This last 8 months have been a journey for me and most recently, I realized why I am on this journey:
I was born and raised in Brunei, a small country on Borneo Island in South East Asia. I have been actively involved in the church since I was seven and growing up in a Muslim country proved to be a challenge even at a young age.
We were not allowed to show any signs of our Christian faith like the cross we wear on our chains or even at Christmas, we were not allowed to put up Christmas lights on our houses and the Christmas tree could not be visible from the roads. I didn’t tell people what I did on Sundays, I was in some ways scared to be a Christian.
But here I am today, in such a lively church! I never dreamed that I would be able to come to church every day and be part of such a vibrant community!
Last January, my boyfriend and I attended Break Forth Canada and what an experience! Imagine the Shaw Conference Centre Halls A & B filled with people praising God! I couldn’t believe it – what a community! I would never have seen that growing up in Brunei. It’s the same thing here at St. Theresa’s – we have a great community here.
How many times have we decided not to go somewhere because it was a little too far? For the community East of 50th Street, the next closest church after St. Theresa’s is Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sherwood Park. Then, it is St. Thomas More in the Terwillegar/Riverbend area.
How many people do you think are going to make it to these churches if they don’t come here? That is why masses are being celebrated at Father Michael Troy school and until last year at Holy Family school to help establish a foundation for Corpus Christi.
When I moved into the Meadows, I was excited that the church was going to be around the corner – I could walk there in the summer and get that extra 10 minutes of sleep!!!
So I am sure most of you have asked this question – WHY should I donate and support to build another church?
I asked myself that very question last week and thought…have you ever wondered how the church got where it is physically? What would you do if you didn’t have a church to go to? If you recall, I was raised in a Muslim country, where practicing my faith – some days I felt I was being persecuted for being a Christian. But here I am – I have the opportunity to be part of building a church – a church where I can go practice my faith and not be scared to go to!
We all have, in our journey here on earth, reached a point where we feel like we’re being pulled in so many directions and sometimes we’re just not sure what to do or where to go. Two years ago, I was captain of two volleyball teams, had season tickets to the Oilers, was involved here in music, was a Eucharistic Minister, worked fulltime and was working towards my Accounting Designation fulltime. That was a full plate!
I felt so lost, confused and just too busy! I felt I was getting out of control and that God was so far away.
I attended a session by Dr. Phillip Yancey where he spoke about prayer and why sometimes we feel that God’s just not answering our prayers. And what he said – really hit home…sometimes we are just so busy with our lives that we’re always praying to God for help. The speaker challenged the audience with this question – Have you thought about what God wants us to do? Have you listened to what God wants?
We all have our obligations financially such as mortgages, rent and the well-being of our families. I have those same obligations. But ever since Break Forth, I’ve given my life to God and asked him to take charge of my life – my crazy schedule and the many demands of life. God will take care of you if you let him.
For those that have committed to this campaign, on behalf of Fr. Jim and the Corpus Christi committees, we thank you for your support. For those that are still wondering how you can afford to do it, I ask you to pray about it. You are not doing this for anyone here, not me, not Fr. Jim but for the man who died on the cross so that we may have eternal life.
God has given us the opportunity to spread His good news. Just as we remembered on Remembrance day, the many men and women that fought for our country so that we have this wonderful country to live in and the freedom to celebrate our faith, let us build a church so that we can bring more people closer to God and lead them to eternal life.
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Thank you Angie.
You know, leaving His vineyard better than we found it, being good stewards of this vineyard is not solely about participating in the building of the church of Corpus Christi. We recognize that this is only one avenue for us to share our time, talent and treasure. We all are committed in many ways with our time talent and treasure already. Angie spoke of financial obligations like mortgages, rent and the well being of our families. Some of you send much of your disposable income to family members back home. Your children can keep you running from sunrise to sunset with all the things they are involved in. Your commitment to family, community and church can at times seem overwhelming. Angie articulated clearly how the busyness of life can have a detrimental effect on what is truly important in our lives. These are realities and they all have an impact on your ability to give of your time talent and treasure.
It is however part of our human nature to desire to be involved with that which we feel a part of. The vertical staff of the cross, God’s love for us and our love for Him, impels us to reciprocate the love we feel. We do this with the horizontal arm of the cross by our interaction and involvement supporting, caring and walking with one another on our journeys of faith. When push comes to shove, the church of Corpus Christi is not so much about us. It is about our children, our grand children and it is about the seventy-five percent of Catholics who do not practice their faith regularly. The church of Corpus Christi is really a way for all of us to leave His vineyard a little bit better than we found it.
Thirty-seven years ago some of us accepted the invitation to go out into the vineyard and make it a better place. For over thirty years, literally generations, untold thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Catholics have grown in their journeys of faith here at St. Theresa’s. Why? Because of the courageous hearts of those who have gone before us. Because of those who said yes to the invitation to make Christ the King’s vineyard a little bit better than when they came into it. My friends, it is our turn now. We too can make the vineyard better, but we will only do it through the horizontal arm of the cross. It is as a unified community of faith that we will make His vineyard better. “Have you thought about what God wants you to do? Have you listened to what God wants?”
May we all stand on that day when He separates the sheep from the goats and say to Christ the King, “I tried to leave your vineyard better than I found it.” (1248)
