Active Membership Pillar: Regular Financial Support of the Parish

In Mark’s Gospel reading this weekend, Jesus speaks powerfully about humility and the intention behind our actions. He observes guests scrambling for the places of honor at a banquet and responds with a parable that teaches about taking the lower seat, waiting to be invited higher, and showing hospitality to those who cannot repay us. It's a message that cuts through our cultural obsession with recognition and status and reminds us of God's radically different economy—one that values humility over honor and selfless generosity over strategic giving.

When we relate this to financial giving for the church, the implications are profound. Jesus challenges us to give not for prestige or favor but from a place of humble gratitude and faithful stewardship. In other words, giving should not be transactional. It should be transformational.

Financial giving to the church is not about receiving praise or earning God’s favor. It is a spiritual act of worship and trust. True giving mirrors God's own heart—a heart that gives freely, generously, and without expectation of return. If our financial stewardship reflects this gospel principle, then our giving—both individually and collectively—becomes not just support for a building or a budget, but a bold witness to God’s kingdom.

So, as we reflect on our own financial giving, let us ask ourselves:

• Am I giving from a place of humility or a desire for recognition?
• Do I trust that God will provide, even as I give sacrificially?
• How is my giving helping the church reflect Christ’s call to include and uplift the least?

May our generosity always be grounded in the humility Christ modeled, and may our giving serve not to elevate ourselves, but to exalt the One who gave everything for us.