This weekend we have our festival at the Riverside Center. We had planned on holding it at the Cashmere Church parking lot, but the weather forecast was poor and we thought it safer to move it indoors. During the festival we will have delicious Mexican and American food, folkloric dances, games, live music, raffles, and the presentation of the candidates for Miss OLA. The proceeds of the festival will be used in raising funds for the building of our new church.

A fundraiser is always an opportunity to be generous in re- sponse to God’s goodness to us. God always rewards sacrifice. Simone de Beauvoir says, “That's what I consider true generosity: You give your all and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.” When we do this kind of fundraising, we always see the generosity of God returned to us who strive to be generous.

We know that everything in this world belongs to the Lord. When we give back to God some of what He has given to us, we reflect our call to be good stewards. The reality of our relationship with God is that He gives, we give back and He gives us more. It is that relationship which culminates in the possibility of eternal life with Him. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Let us take this, and every opportunity, to be good stewards, good managers and generous people who are pleasing in the eyes of God.

Sincerely,
Rev. Miguel Gonzalez