Stewardship
Answering God’s Call to Serve
Please consider supporting St. Mary of the Angels with online giving, where your contribution is donated from your checking, savings, or credit card account. You may schedule your donations to be automatic:
- Contribute to your Sunday collection by enrolling in a reoccuring donation
- Make an extraordinary donation to the Parish or School. If you’d like to donate for mass intentions, capital improvement, or other reason, please indicate what the donation is for in the Notes field.
Visit https://faith.direct/IL1082 or text “Enroll” to (773) 232-2991 to get started using FaithDirect.
Other Ways To Give
Will Or Trust
We appreciate the thoughtful parishioners who have left bequests to St. Mary of the Angels in their will or trust. These gifts help us lay a solid foundation for the Catholic Faith for future generations.
Retirement Account
Your lifetime of generosity has helped St. Mary of the Angels serve God’s people. Continue your legacy by making a qualified charitable distribution (or a IRA charitable rollover gift) from your retirement account to St. Mary of the Angels.
Life Insurance
Don’t cancel life insurance you no longer need! Consider instructing your life insurance agent to include St. Mary of the Angels as a primary or secondary beneficiary on your policy. By this you’ll provide lasting financial support and possibly qualify for tax benefits as well. It costs nothing to change the beneficiary on your policy and will mean everything to our future parish community.
For information about these options, including sample bequest language, please contact Gary Bilinovich, busmgr@sma-church.org, 773-278-2644 x228 or Krystina M. Campbell, Planned Giving Officer, Archdiocese of Chicago at 312.534.5404, kcampbell@archchicago.org.
Who is a Christian Steward?
One who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with others, and returns them with increase to the Lord.
This is the description offered in the Bishops’ Pastoral Letter that paints a beautiful picture of a Christian steward. While every man, woman and child is born a steward, the practice of embracing this special way of life is an ongoing and ever-changing experience for each of us.
Stewardship begins with gratitude
We recognize that everything – family, friends, home, health, community, work, neighborhood, parish… – is a gift from God. In grateful response we share these blessings with others. How we spend our time, employ our special abilities, and dedicate a percentage of our financial gifts to the things of God reflect that gratitude and our commitment to the Biblical call for stewardship and discipleship.
Stewardship Today: Time, Talent & Treasure
Time
We often link time with talent, and understand it merely as volunteer efforts. But time means so much more. Time for family, neighbors, rest, fitness, friends and, most especially, prayer – these are essential in the life of a disciple. How do I allocate the time in my life and what does that say about my priorities?
Some practical examples of the proper use of time are:
- Spend time with spouse and children
- Attend Mass every Sunday
- Find time to pray every day
- Attend Thursday Eucharistic adoration
- Frequent use of the sacrament of confession.
Talent
The interests and abilities of our parishioners are extraordinary. A stewardship commitment simply asks, “How do I use my talents and giftedness in the service of others?” Our Parish community invites widespread involvement, but it is up to each individual to discover and discern how God is calling you to disburse your talents – within St. Mary of the Angels and throughout the world.
Our Parish organizations are constantly growing and looking for new members. We are always in need of lectors, men to serve as ushers, boys to be altar servers, volunteers for the school … Check out other groups such as Grupo Guadalupano, Young Adults, New Families Group, Moms and Tots…
We pray that the members of St. Mary of the Angels Parish will recognize stewardship as an act of faith – a spiritual response to the call of discipleship. This simple practice of identifying and sharing our gifts in an intentional and committed manner invites us to look at time, talent and treasure in new ways.
Treasure
For centuries people have sensed a close, personal relationship with God and have considered the practice of thoughtful and proportionate giving as a means of expressing their gratitude for all that God has given them. The Old Testament speaks of tithing and relates the tithe to a deep devotion to God.
The best way to support our Parish is to register as a parishioner and actively participate in our parish events.