October 27, 2019

If you were going to run a race, wouldn’t you need to train? My wife is not a runner, but a few years back, she wanted to par-ticipate in a race with my youngest son. She embarked on a journey which included a healthy diet, exercise, and a lot of running. After several months, she was ready. The race came and went but what remained was a sense of accomplishment. She would have never made it through that event if not for her training. When the time came, she was ready.

Our life in Christ is a race of sorts. It is not a race that starts and stops again and again but one that continues from our baptism until eternal life with him (hopefully). Even though we never stop the race, we do have moments where we need to hydrate, take nourishment, and gain strength. That’s what we do at the Mass and in our parish community. It is in our parish where we find what we need to keep running that race.

The problem is that too many assume we only are running the race when we are involved with the parish. Living out our discipleship in stewardship is not only to be done in the Church. In fact, what we do in the Church is to prepare us for what we are called to do during all the times we are not at Church. We encounter Christ in his Church so that we may bring him into a world that needs him. In community, we train and take nourishment so that we have any chance of running the race every day. Don’t let your stewardship stop at the church doors. Outside those doors, the race is on!

— Tracy Earl Welliver