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October 8, 2026
At my first parish assignment at the Cathedral Parish of Reno, NV, I had the honor of journeying with an older couple who were Secular Franciscans—lay people who vow to live in the Franciscan way of life.
They had lived comfortably in San Jose, raised three children, and built a life together. But during the financial crisis of 2008, they lost everything, including their home. Forced to move to Reno, they packed what they could into their small car and placed the rest in a storage unit their children helped pay for.
Five years later, they came to me in anguish. Their children could no longer afford the storage fees, and they were facing the loss of everything they had salvaged from their former life.
I asked them:
“Haven’t you been happy and at peace these past five years in Reno, sharing your lives with one another, with friends, ministries, and the sacramental life of the Church?”
“And hasn’t that happiness had nothing to do with what is sitting in a storage unit in San Jose?”
“If you haven’t needed those things for five years, what exactly are you afraid of losing?”
Last Sunday, Monsignor Paul invited us to ask: “What am I doing for the life, health, and mission of the Lord’s Vineyard?”
This Sunday, the Gospel speaks of the wedding feast and those who do—and do not—respond to the invitation.
Perhaps what keeps us from generosity and stewardship is the “baggage” we carry and the things we keep in the “storage units” of our lives. What are we afraid of losing if we give ourselves more fully to God and His mission?
The couple in Reno finally let the storage unit go. Once they released what they had clung to in fear and anxiety, they became more fully and joyfully free to give themselves to God and the work entrusted to them.
In freely giving, they discovered they had received far more than they thought possible.
This is both the gift and the call of stewardship.