Jesus A Beggar?
Mark Roberti ,
Director of Stewardship, Heartland Parishes of Ellis County

I once read a book by a mystic on the life of St. Joseph .  Whether it was an authentic portrayal of his life or not, I do not have the expertise to confirm, but I was truly inspired by the nature and extent of St. Joseph ’s profound humility.  That, alone, led me to suspect that what I was reading might be authentic.

            But what really moved me was this book’s account of the “finding of Jesus in the temple.”  According to the author, after Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem to find Jesus, the first place St. Joseph went was to the temple.  Jesus was not there.  He was out begging for food.

            I have often reflected on that… the Lord, God, Creator of the universe, out begging for food.  In this book, there were also times that Joseph had to beg for food.  Knowing a little bit about the history of the Church, I also know that St. Francis, the mendicant orders (of preachers and evangelists), and many saints were beggars.

            Just days after I finished the book, I was speaking with the Vicar General of the Diocese of Lubbock.  He had just returned from the annual diocesan priest retreat.  The archbishop who gave the retreat stressed that priests today must learn to become more like beggars. As a stewardship and development director, my job also sometimes requires me to beg. 

            Like anyone else, I have my own prideful propensities.  But when those times for begging come, as they always do, I ask myself, “why am I doing this? What is the mission of this Church for which I am doing it?”  Then I think of Jesus, St. Joseph , and St. Francis, and I figure I am in pretty good company. 

The answer is pretty simple really.  I do it because I really love this Church.  I truly believe that this is the Church Jesus started.  I really believe that it is my role, and the role of each of us to evangelize.  I also know that that takes money.  It takes a lot of money.  And it takes a lot more than money.  It takes the very hearts and souls of our faithful.  It takes our collective talents and abilities as a parish… and it takes a whole lot of prayer.  

            That’s not to say that it doesn’t bother me when somebody says “no.”  Nor do I revel in joy when people say, as so many do, that “stewardship is just about money.”  In truth, it saddens me.  It also discourages me just a little, because it shows how far we are from our goal, and our mission, of evangelization. 

            Maybe, when people tell our priests, pastoral leaders, and fellow parishioners that stewardship is just about money, often what they are saying is that “I simply do not want to let go of my money. I have better things to do with it. My Church is just not that important to me.  Maybe, they are just trying to justify their own lack of commitment. 

            The fact of the matter is that, on average, most Catholics give less than two percent of their income a year.  I’d guess a third of our parish families don’t even go to Mass each Sunday.  Another one-third gives one to five dollars per week.  Very, very few Catholics actually tithe at either 10 percent of their gross, or even net, income.

Seldom do you hear a true tither complain about money.  If they do, it’s not about the Church that they lament about, it is about their brothers and sisters in the faith.  They lament that so many of our faithful do not have a better, more personal relationship with God.  They worry about the health of our Church.  Then, often, they simply give more of their time and talent, and they pray more.  As a stewardship director, that’s a response that gives me great hope.

Last night, my family and I went to a local American Legion baseball game.  Sitting alone in the stands was one of the best stewards in our Heartland Parishes.  Though a young man, he and his wife have been very successful.  They, in turn, return the first fruits of their time, talent, and treasure to God. 

We talked religion.  We talked about stewardship.  We talked about a local Christian Church of about 250 families that pretty aggressively tries to draw Catholics to that community.  He said, “what I can’t understand, is how a church of that size can be building new buildings and providing ministries that our three major churches in Hays, churches of 500, 1000, and 1,600 families, can’t provide?” It was really a rhetorical question!  He fully understands.  The real question he was asking was, “why can’t the Church of the Eucharist, the One true Church, get it’s people to give like that.” 

            My son came up to me.  “Dad, I’m thirsty, can I get a pop?”  My wife and I are pretty frugal, “get some water out of the fountain,” I responded.  “It’s broken,” he said. I gave him a dollar.  As it approached 9:00 p.m. , he was hungry.  There was another $1.50.   Then, I turned and explained to our friend, this steward, how easy it is to blow five dollars a day, but how hard it is for people to add just five more dollars to the collection basket.

            If you belong to a parish of 1,000 families, and each gave just $5 more per week, that would come to $260,000 per year…more than a quarter of a million dollars! For a parish of 100 families, it’s $26,000 per year.  You can do the math for the parish size to which you belong. 

But that’s the answer to my friend’s rhetorical questions.  Our separated brothers and sisters give more.  They seem to value their church more.  They want to develop more and better ministries so that they can attract our Catholics families, your children and grandchildren.  They teach them to tithe, get more money, build better facilities and ministries and attract more Catholic and other families.  

Jesus was a beggar.  Your priest is a beggar.  I’m begging you, make your faith a priority.  Don’t give from your excess.  Give from your substance.  Give from your very soul!

We have got to get the Catholic Church evangelizing again!