So, we are now in the season of Advent. Advent is a time of reflection on preparation. It is the Liturgical Season in which we ready our souls for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
As part of this time, we should be reflecting on our own spiritual lives. We should be asking ourselves, “What can I do for God with my time, talents and resources?”.
I myself have been thinking and praying about where I should be going in the future. Am I to stay in my tech support job forever? How can I use the love that I have of computers and new media to spread the Gospel? How can I do this and still support Tanya and Linus?
Should I attempt to go back to school? If so, what should I study? Where should I go? Even if I go to school, will I be able to find a job with medical and that pays the bills?
What can I do in my current state of life to better serve God?
All of these questions have been running through my head. All of them big decisions, and decisions that will affect not only my life, but the lives of those I love and care for.
If you listen to the Life on Fire Podcast, you already know that I am currently assisting my parish in the development of a new website and managing their technology. Tanya has been helping to purchase snacks for the CCD students to help out. She also collects education box tops, Cambell’s labels, soda can tabs and canceled stamps for various organizations, including the school at our parish.
However, there always feels like something more needs to be done, but we never seem to have the time or energy to put in to anything else. Getting to the podcast is hard enough as it is!
However, something simple and easy that we CAN do is to assist others whose ministries are helping to spread the Gospel to the world.
In our case, we are supporting Rosary Army and SQPN. Without these organizations Tanya and I’s lives would be very different. Both apostolates are on fire for our Lord and both spread the Gospel message in different ways.
Rosary Army shows people how to make, pray and give away all twine knotted Rosaries. They have distributed MILLIONS of Rosaries to almost every continent in the world. They also have a great community of Rosary Army Soldiers who are Rosary-making machines and prayer warriors as well. This organization is well worth supporting if you have the funds to do so.
SQPN – The Star Quest Production Network is the leading source of Catholic new media outreach programs. From programs about the saints to a brand new show geared for kids called Squipin, SQPN has something for everyone. As CEO Father Roderick Vonhogen might say, “We unite gamers and golfers, technology and theology and even priests and iPods”.
Not only that but SQPN hosts a yearly “Catholic New Media Celebration”, a weekend of community, fun and education involving new media outreach for Church initiatives. The SQPN community is worldwide and covers social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Again, this is a group that the Church needs more than ever in this internet age. I would greatly suggest supporting them if you can.
While we are NOT part of SQPN (but we want to be), we always support their initiatives and you will be hearing more about their giving campaign on our next podcast.
Both of the above organizations are 501c3 non-profit organizations. They rely SOLEY on the contributions of people to run their ministries. If you have the time to make a Rosary for Rosary Army, that is great! If you can leave feedback or comments to SQPN podcasters to encourage them, do that as well! However, what these organizations really need from us at this time is our monetary support so that they can continue to do what they are doing. Even if you only have $5 for a one-time donation, it is greatly appreciated and will go a long way. As always, these organizations also ask for your prayers to constantly keep them before the Lord in what they are doing.
IF you want to give more back to God but, don’t have the time or energy to do more in your parish, if you have some spare funds, it would be great to support these organizations, as well as your own parish and diocesan initiatives. By doing this we are supporting those who spread God’s love to the world. There is no better investment, no 401k or stock that will give you the kind of return that a gift like this will. Saving souls and spreading the message of God’s love is worth more than anything else in the world. It is our job as Christians to help spread that message, and by supporting SQPN and Rosary Army, you are doing just that.
May God bless you and your families during this Advent and Christmas season. May he shower the gift of Grace upon us, that we might go forth and spread the Good News to the masses.