Given to Us. Kept by Us. Handed On.

St. Monica begins its annual stewardship renewal this weekend, October 10 and 11. It unfolds over two weekends, one step at a time. Here is how it goes.

Wayne Zahner, parishioner for 26 years

This weekend is for listening. At every Mass, parishioner Wayne Zahner, a member of St. Monica for 26 years, will share how this parish became his home. Give him your full attention, then think about your own story with this place.

During the week, talk it over with your spouse, your household, or in prayer. Next weekend, the parish will ask what you have decided for the year ahead.

Why a parish does this every year

Every healthy parish renews its support once a year, in Ohio and Kansas, in Boston and San Francisco. A home has to be looked after. For a renter, the upkeep is folded into the rent. For an owner, it arrives as a property tax bill and the occasional plumber. Nobody asks how you feel about either one. At St. Monica, you are asked.

A typical week on California Avenue

Parish and school share one campus, and it is in use from dawn to twilight. October’s calendar holds 311 bookings. Some of what follows meets every week and some once a month; all of it happens here.

What a parish this alive can do

5

Masses every weekend, two of them livestreamed

73

baptized or received into the Church at this year’s Easter Vigil

1,019

meals at the 46th Thanksgiving Feast, served by more than 500 parishioner volunteers

$1M+

in Archdiocesan wildfire relief, put into the hands of about 1,000 households by the St. Monica team in 2025

150+

young adults (20s–30s) at the kickoff of this year’s Young Ministering Adults program

250+

parishioners who have entered the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life retreat here

Much of this runs on volunteers and on gifts given for a particular purpose: the turkeys are donated, and the relief funds came from the Archdiocese. Offertory is what sits underneath. It keeps the campus open, the lights on, the music playing, and the staff in place, so that St. Monica can say yes when the need arrives.

Next weekend, and a little housekeeping

On October 17 and 18, the parish will ask each household for its commitment for the next twelve months. Come having talked it over. Until then, two small things help the parish get ready.

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