As we continue to reflect on the Spirituality of Fundraising let us begin this reflection with a joke.

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My pastor will find me.
There were two men shipwrecked on this island. The minute they got on to the island one of them started screaming and yelling, "We're going to die! We're going to die! There's no food! No water! We're going to die!"

The second man was propped up against a palm tree and acting so calmly that it drove the first man crazy. "Don't you understand?!? We're going to die!!"

The second man replied, "You don't understand. I make $100,000 a week."

The first man looked at him quite dumbfounded and asked, "What difference does that make?!? We're on an island with no food and no water! We're going to DIE!!!"

The second man answered, "You just don't get it. I make $100,000 a week and I tithe ten percent on that $100,000 per week. My pastor will find me!"

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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.

Fund-raising is also always a call to conversion. And this call comes to both those who seek funds and those who have funds. Whether we are asking for money or giving money we are drawn together by God, who is about to do a new thing through our collaboration (see Isa. 43:19). To be converted means to experience a deep shift in how we see and think and act.

We read in the Gospels that St. Peter when he first encounters the Lord, he catches a huge amount of fish, which would probably be the equivalent in our society as winning the lottery. If we stop and reflect on this scene, we can almost see St. Peter being torn as he looks to his right and sees Jesus calling him to follow Him and the file of fish (money) on his left. He has to make a decision – which one will bring him true happiness? Peter must have decided that being a successful fisherman was not going to bring him true happiness and so decides to follow Jesus.

We read in the Gospels that Mathew was sitting at his custom’s post when Jesus called him and Mathew gets up and leaves all that money behind to follow Jesus. Why? The only answer could be that deep down Mathew knew that all the money in the world would not make him happy but maybe this wandering preacher could lead him to happiness.

We also know the story of Zaccheus who climbed the tree, the woman who put into the treasury her last coin. It seems that the Gospel makes it truly clear that at some point we have to decide what is more important the collection money and material goods or following Jesus. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Mathew 6:24.

In fund-raising as ministry we are inviting people into a new way of relating to their resources. By giving people a spiritual vision, we want them to experience that they will in fact benefit by making their resources available to us.

Since, I have started taking stewardship serious in my life, I know that giving to the Church or another charity requires me to change how I relate to my possessions and what I decide is necessary. I recently starting helping a young lady who is being a missionary in Haiti and to help her financially meant that I had to cut some other expenses from my life. Sometimes, I find better ways to give of my time. Each year, I give of my time to lead a retreat for Project Rachel and each year the Respect Life Apostolate sends me a financial gift for leading the retreat. I in turn donate the money back to them. There are many things I can do with that money but I know that part of what God is calling me to do is to give to the pro-life cause. I feel that the sacrifice involves makes my donation a little more special in God’s eyes because it comes not from a surplus.