I was just as surprised as everyone else to receive a “Thank You” envelope from Jesus Christ last week at the 11am Mass.  They were given out to the congregation on behalf of a parishioner who prayerfully discerned that his tithe should be returned to the Body of Christ, “to the little c rather than to the big C.”  I understand because I’ve always struggled with big C – that is institutional Church – issues.  And yet, I am the local representative of the big C, aren’t I? 
 
So, let him simply say thank you to the parishioner who truly believes that it is “God’s money.”  Thanks for helping me personally, to think a little more deeply about what it means to be a good steward of the resources that God has entrusted to us.  And thanks, from the big C to those parishioners who turned around and placed the gift from God in the offertory.  There was probably a $2000 increase in last Sunday’s 11am offertory. 
 
I kept my $50 but as a good steward of what God has entrusted to me, I intend to use it to write to the U.S. Bishops to encourage them to promote priestly fraternity because research by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice has found that “priests who lacked close social bonds…were more likely to sexually abuse minors than those who had a history of close social bonds.”  As head of the Jesus Caritas Fraternity of Priests USA, I believe that concern for the human and spiritual wellbeing of priests needs to be a big part of the much-needed reform of the big C.  And if anyone else has an interesting idea about how to use the “Thank You” money from Jesus, I’d love to hear your story.
 
But my day job and deep sense of mission is always going to be to grow God’s Kingdom here and now.  I’m not worried about getting y’all into heaven.  If we work together on building up God’s Kingdom, that is to say God’s influence, here on Tybee Island, God will be more than happy to welcome us into the eternal paradise.  It is the mission of every member of this faith community to grow God’s Kingdom here and now.
 
When John the Baptist pointed out Jesus to Andrew and another disciple, they wanted to learn more about Jesus.  So, Jesus offered them a very simple invitation, “Come and See.”  This is the same invitation that Philip would later offer to Nathanael, when Nathanael asks the disparaging question about Jesus’ origins: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip responds: “Come and see” (John 1:35–46).
 
So, the first thing we have to do as faith community is issue that invitation. We have to be sure enough in our faith that we’re willing to offer ourselves as examples.  No, we are not perfect, but I think there are a lot of folks on Tybee who are searching for people who have a sense of what life should be about; people who by the way they live show the path to a meaning life; a life that is happy and joy-filled because it is a life focused on what matters to God.  I think we could be that people.
 
What is it that we’re inviting our friends, neighbors and family to come and see?  Two things, actually: the God revealed in Jesus Christ and our response to that revelation. The God of Jesus loves us infinitely, unquestioningly, and unconditionally—so much as to become one of us and to be present to us now and forever. Our response to that revelation must also be love, as we learn to live in and through the God who dwells within us, among us, and infinitely beyond us. And we need to show that response primarily in simple, daily ways, in the enduring ways that we live in communion with God, through Christ, in the power of the Spirit: in the ways we care for ourselves, for each other, and for strangers, especially the poor, forgotten, and suffering.
 
One of the important ways we issue the invitation to “come and see” is through our liturgy. It is when we are gathered as the Body of Christ that we are most fully in communion with the living God.   I deeply believe that, and I think our worship at St. Michael Church reflects that belief.  The feedback that I get from visitors after Mass is awesome.  It is because of some great music but also because of your active participation and welcoming spirit.  May our Masses always reflect our gratitude to God for all that he has given to us and may we be bold in inviting others to come and experience the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst: To come and see!
 
I was just as surprised as everyone else to receive a “Thank You” envelope from Jesus Christ last week at the 11am Mass.  They were given out to the congregation on behalf of a parishioner who prayerfully discerned that his tithe should be returned to the Body of Christ, “to the little c rather than to the big C.”  I understand because I’ve always struggled with big C – that is institutional Church – issues.  And yet, I am the local representative of the big C, aren’t I? 
 
So, let him simply say thank you to the parishioner who truly believes that it is “God’s money.”  Thanks for helping me personally, to think a little more deeply about what it means to be a good steward of the resources that God has entrusted to us.  And thanks, from the big C to those parishioners who turned around and placed the gift from God in the offertory.  There was probably a $2000 increase in last Sunday’s 11am offertory. 
 
I kept my $50 but as a good steward of what God has entrusted to me, I intend to use it to write to the U.S. Bishops to encourage them to promote priestly fraternity because research by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice has found that “priests who lacked close social bonds…were more likely to sexually abuse minors than those who had a history of close social bonds.”  As head of the Jesus Caritas Fraternity of Priests USA, I believe that concern for the human and spiritual wellbeing of priests needs to be a big part of the much-needed reform of the big C.  And if anyone else has an interesting idea about how to use the “Thank You” money from Jesus, I’d love to hear your story.
 
But my day job and deep sense of mission is always going to be to grow God’s Kingdom here and now.  I’m not worried about getting y’all into heaven.  If we work together on building up God’s Kingdom, that is to say God’s influence, here on Tybee Island, God will be more than happy to welcome us into the eternal paradise.  It is the mission of every member of this faith community to grow God’s Kingdom here and now.
 
When John the Baptist pointed out Jesus to Andrew and another disciple, they wanted to learn more about Jesus.  So, Jesus offered them a very simple invitation, “Come and See.”  This is the same invitation that Philip would later offer to Nathanael, when Nathanael asks the disparaging question about Jesus’ origins: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip responds: “Come and see” (John 1:35–46).
 
So, the first thing we have to do as faith community is issue that invitation. We have to be sure enough in our faith that we’re willing to offer ourselves as examples.  No, we are not perfect, but I think there are a lot of folks on Tybee who are searching for people who have a sense of what life should be about; people who by the way they live show the path to a meaning life; a life that is happy and joy-filled because it is a life focused on what matters to God.  I think we could be that people.
 
What is it that we’re inviting our friends, neighbors and family to come and see?  Two things, actually: the God revealed in Jesus Christ and our response to that revelation. The God of Jesus loves us infinitely, unquestioningly, and unconditionally—so much as to become one of us and to be present to us now and forever. Our response to that revelation must also be love, as we learn to live in and through the God who dwells within us, among us, and infinitely beyond us. And we need to show that response primarily in simple, daily ways, in the enduring ways that we live in communion with God, through Christ, in the power of the Spirit: in the ways we care for ourselves, for each other, and for strangers, especially the poor, forgotten, and suffering.
 
One of the important ways we issue the invitation to “come and see” is through our liturgy. It is when we are gathered as the Body of Christ that we are most fully in communion with the living God.   I deeply believe that, and I think our worship at St. Michael Church reflects that belief.  The feedback that I get from visitors after Mass is awesome.  It is because of some great music but also because of your active participation and welcoming spirit.  May our Masses always reflect our gratitude to God for all that he has given to us and may we be bold in inviting others to come and experience the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst: To come and see!

Fr. Jerry Ragan