The following is taken from the Archdiocese of St. Louis about Marriage

My first pastor had one talk that he would give each year on finances. It was the same talk every year and the Sunday that he gave the talk because known as “Apple Sunday” because his talk always involved peaches (Only kidding his talk always involved apples).

As we continue to reflect on this idea of money and the Church that I am calling the Spirituality of Fundraising, let us turn once again to Fr. Nouwen’s book: The Spirituality of Fundraising. Quotes from his book will be in bold and my commentary will be in the regular font.

In our last Spiritual Ponderings, I reflected on Dr. Gottman’s insight on how money is more than money to us and how money has become a symbol of a dreams and hopes. Some of the dreams are dreams of pleasure and some of these dreams are attempts to avoid nightmares and thus have more to do with security. Either way, we also know our dreams and our hopes are intimate part of who we are. And this is where things get tricky because God wants us to share with Him our whole lives and this is where stewardship comes in. As a Catholic, I know that everything I have is a gift from God and that God desires a personal relationship with Him. In a very real way when I share with God some of my money, I am sharing with God my dreams and hopes. When I share with God my money I am saying “Lord I trust that Your dreams are better than mine,” “Lord I trust, that if I am faithful to You with the small amount of things that I have, You will reward/entrust me with more,” and “Lord I trust, in You to take care of me, more than I trust in myself or my own efforts.” This amazing sign of trust and sharing with God our dreams cannot but help strengthen our relationship with God because God is always faithful and God is never outdone in generosity.

According to one Biblical scholar there are approximately 700 direct references to money in the Bible and hundreds more indirect references. Plus, nearly two thirds of the parables of Jesus dealt with the use of money and yet most priest (including myself) are afraid to talk about money. Perhaps it is because the old saying “the last part of a person to be converted is their wallet” has more truth to it than we would like. We always seem to find the time and money to spend on things that we want.