Eric and Sharon Wilcox on Stewardship

"Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house."
                                     Jesus to Zacchaeus the tax collector in a tree, Luke 19:5b


Eric and Sharon Wilcox shared their reflections on their stewardship at the Masses on Oct. 30.

(Sharon] In today’s Liturgy of the Word we are reminded that:

     God is merciful.
     God is faithful.
     When we mess up, God has our back.
     We are constantly in God’s care.
     We are invited to follow Zaccheus’ example: to keep our own faith alive as we search for salvation.

God has given us so many gifts, our earth, our lives, our circles of family and friends, our beloved St. Therese community. St. Therese Parish has been our spiritual home for close to three decades. Individually and as a couple, the warmth of the St. Therese community has touched us deeply, and inspires us to be stewards using all the gifts we have available. This song is one of the sources of faith and inspiration for me personally:
                     Lord, I'm available to You,
                     My will I give to You, I'll do what You say do,
                     Use me Lord to show someone the way and enable me to say,
                     “My storage is empty and I am available to You.”

So Eric – What is stewardship?

[Eric] I got to thinking about that word. First, one has to be a steward to be able to engage in stewardship. So we are being challenged to be stewards. That led me to get a little technical and go to the dictionary and eventually to Wikipedia to find out a little bit more about what a steward is and what they do.

One can be a steward to a monarch; in the, Catholic church there is the majordomo. In organized labor there is the shop steward, and in restaurants there is the wine steward or “sommelier”.

Whatever the title, a steward has important purpose and role. God calls us to be stewards of creation, to take care of the earth and to take care of each other. Sometimes we do that as individuals and other times through group efforts pooling our resources.

[Sharon] Here are a few things about our journey of stewardship: Music was a huge part of both our lives before we met, and we are blessed that God brought us together through the music ministry of the Shades of Praise gospel choir.

Some folks say that when it comes to love, to finding your soulmate, “When you meet the one, you know” and that was our story, we recognized that was the Spirit working in us. We were married at Eric’s family’s parish, St. Mary’s, and our union was also blessed here at St. Therese. Pretty soon our first choir baby Ari was born, and soon after Miranda joined us. St. Therese connected us with Carmen Holen, for day care at Los Ninos; St. Therese connected us with Louise LaDay and Wayne Melonson for our girls’ educational journeys at both St. Paul and St. Therese. Eric became more than a musician, as a full-fledged member of the parish. Ari joined the newly formed Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and Eric and I considered our capacity and
offered our time and talent and treasure as we were able. In addition to music, we served as Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Lay Presiders. We volunteered for the Crab Feed, Motown Nights, the school auctions. I’ve been part of the Parent Teacher Organization and the School Commission. After Eric’s job ended during the 2008 recession, his stint as a teacher’s assistant at the school endeared him to the students and eventually led him to his current role as a special education teacher.

[Eric] It doesn’t take much to make a big difference. There was a widow who gave but two small coins but Jesus said that her gift was greater than those who were rich and gave with great fanfare.

We did all this because we love the community of St. Therese, because we see other members stepping up and giving up their own time sharing the fruits of their faith because they believe. Past and current members of our ever-evolving faith family include Marilyn, Gail, Jim and Lucita, James and Monique, Debra, Keith and Christi, Rodney and Diane, Mercy, Mary Pauline, Tyra, Jennifer and Dave, Josie, Dolores, Floyd and Vivian, Charlie, Bob, Kent, Alia and Kevin, Mary, Bernetta, Carla and Joe, Alec and Helena, Cezanne, Damaris, Mary Lou, Bill McIver and so many more, individuals who have been stewards in different ways, sharing their gift of commitment, inspiring us to bring our best selves to this beloved community.

Through the highs and the lows, we keep the faith, we welcome God’s mercy when we suffer or make mistakes, and we return to the little ways of doing God’s work, of being open to building peace, love and justice in our community and beyond.

Let us answer the call, share the fruits of our faith and do what we can do to fulfill our role as parts of the body, as stewards of St. Therese parish. Thank you for taking the time to read the information in the bulletin and visit our web-site to sign up. - AMEN!

Editor: Please reflect on your gratitude and your finances and pledge to support your parish at https://st-therese.cc/stewardship-of-treasure-commitment-form.