Jill Fecko –
October 7, 2006
My name is Jill Fecko and I have been coming
to St.
Catherine’s now for a little over a year.
I moved with my husband Chris and my daughter, Madalyn to
I was asked to speak this afternoon about
stewardship and what it means to me. I don’t tend to use the word
stewardship
in my daily life and in thinking about it; I found it very difficult to
come up
with a concrete definition. I think
stewardship involves helping others, leading others to Christ, and
giving what
you have to give. I have to admit,
however, that when I was asked to speak about stewardship in relation
to my
involvement with the choir, I had to rack my brain.
I have never thought about singing as
service.
To me, the easiest way to pray is through
song,
which naturally leads me to be a part of the choir.
I was first recruited to my hometown church
choir when I was quite young. There was
a tenor in that choir that thought I had talent and asked me to be a
part of
it. That tenor, who also happens to be
my dad, taught me that if you have a gift that you can use in a
positive way,
you should. And so I have been in church
choirs ever since I can remember. Not
only am I able to pray in a beautiful way, I have since realized that
singing
in the choir and being a cantor is a wonderful way to invite others to
join me.
The choir at St. Catherine’s is, in many
ways, very
similar to other churches where I have sung.
One thing you can always find in a church choir is variety. Some members are skilled musicians, some
merely love to sing. Some members love
the old traditional hymns, others love more contemporary songs. Some love to dance while we sing, others
would rather not. Some are young, some
are young at heart. The members of both
adult choirs are a varied group with a common purpose. It was striking
to me
when I started here, that singing the praise of God seemed the most
important
thing. This might seem obvious to some
of you, but I have definitely sung in church choirs that had other
agendas. This choir is not a performing
group. It is a group of parishioners who
want to
pray together. The prayer is sung
instead of spoken, but it is still a prayer.
For me, singing is a hobby, something that I
love to
do. I have a hard time sitting in a
regular pew at a Catholic mass if I am not in the choir.
When I first joined the choir here, I was
immediately made to feel welcome by Jim and all the other singers and
musicians. There is a great sense of
community and I was welcomed from the first day.
Even though I have only been singing here
for slightly over a year, I feel a real connection to the other singers
and
have made some great friends and gained so much. This
has been a really wonderful way to meet
other members of the community and to share in making beautiful music.
We’ll
just call it a side effect that I get Thursday night out and don’t have
to
spend my time at church negotiating with two toddlers and their snacks.
Although I have sung in many different kinds
of
choirs, I always find myself most at home in a church environment and
particularly in this one. My place in
the choir enables me to take a really active part in the mass. It gives me a deep sense of purpose when I
walk into church on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.
In thinking about this, I came up with a
new, more accurate definition of stewardship.
I would now say that stewardship is “Serving God and my
neighbors while
having a really wonderful time”.
If singing in the choir or playing an
instrument is
a way that you would like to take a more active role in the mass, there
will be
choir members at each exit as you leave.
Feel free to sign up or ask us questions!