What was begun in Jerusalem at Pentecost, recorded in Acts of the Apostles, continues. It’s what we are doing today celebrating so many sacraments, baptizing and confirming so many at almost all our Masses. The Spirit that descended upon the apostles remains upon us. Not a reenactment, what we do here today belongs to the same Spirit; it is the same movement. If you have the capacity to see things spiritually, you understand this, that Acts of the Apostles is merely our origin story.
But we also do something today some may think out of place, a burden, or even inappropriate. We are asking you for money—from every single one of you. We launch today the “public phase” of our capital campaign, an effort to raise $33 million. We’ve raised over $30 million so far, which is amazing, but we are still in critical need of support, as I said, from every single one of you. We need everyone to participate; there are no excuses for not participating, and I mean that.
Again, I am certain some will think my words too urgent or even crude. But they are not. Someone told me once that people should never be asked for money at Mass, that it was uncouth, and I get it. It is indeed an opinion I would like to agree with were it not completely unbiblical.
Again, what we do today is of the same Spirit that was given in Jerusalem at Pentecost; it’s the same movement. Read Acts of the Apostles, how as the Spirit moved in wonders and the Gospel was preached and the sacraments celebrated just as we do today, the disciples also concerned themselves with what to do with their possessions, their money. The disciples shared their wealth for the care of the poor and the building up of the Church; such matters were not deemed inappropriate.
And so, in the heart of our worship, standing by this altar from which you receive your own salvation, I ask you for help to build up the Church in this place, so that we may continue to worship God here, serve the poor here, and build up the kingdom of God here. I can give you the details of our work elsewhere; what I am concerned about here, however, is the spiritual heart of the matter, about whether you’ll be a biblical Christian or whether you’ll say no while standing so near to the altar of God.
Again, read Acts. Read chapters 4 and 5. Read how the story of Barnabas’s generosity is followed by the story of Ananias and Sapphira, how when they “kept back” what they should have given, Peter asked them, “why has Satan filled your heart…?” moments before they both dropped dead.[1] These are not my words; this not my story; this is the Bible. And I am bound to preach it to you.
Yes, we’re trying to raise money to do what we need to do for this parish and for future generations; but understand I am also talking about your soul. You see, I’m not a fundraiser, I’m a preacher. I’m trying to invite us to move beyond a transactional mentality to become biblically generous—for the good of our souls. But what is this spiritually necessary biblical generosity? You’ve heard me say it before; it comes directly from Saint Paul. Each Christian is to give according to his or her means plus sacrifice in imitation of the Lord’s sacrifice.[2] “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce,” it says in Proverbs.[3] What you give to the Church does not count as “discretionary” spending; it doesn’t come from what’s left over after everything else; it should come first. It is a sacrificial gift; you should feel it.
Anyway, I was supposed to talk about the capital campaign. We need your help to reach our goal. We have about $3 million more to raise, and we can easily do this; some of you could help us reach our goal very quickly, but everyone here should help, every gift counts. And really, it’s beautiful was God is doing here, what he’s calling us to do. But first what matters is what I’ve been talking about, about your eternal soul and what the Bible says about possessions and money. I don’t know if you wanted me to give a canned fundraising speech or not, but as I said I’m not a fundraiser; I’m a priest of Jesus Christ. I’m a preacher of the Gospel who feels the burden of telling you the truth. Anyway, as we celebrate these sacraments, as we try to be the Church, to be faithful, this is the message we need to hear, myself included. So let’s be the Church, truly the Church, for the Spirit is still at work in this parish. Amen.
[1] Acts 5:2-3
[2] 2 Corinthians 8:3-9
[3] Proverbs 3:9
© 2025 Rev. Joshua J. Whitfield
