How Do We Really Make a Difference?

Father Dan Wathen, Pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Havre, spending time with St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic School students

by Reverend Dan Wathen, Board Chair, Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana and Pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish and School, Havre

We often think that we lead ordinary, hopefully, if we’re lucky, uneventful lives. Every so often, though, we catch glimpses, just a faint glimmer that God is working through us. This last week I was walking from the Parish Center offices along the sidewalk to our main school doors when I caught that very glimpse of God’s work. As I was walking, a truck pulled up and a little preschooler jumped out, almost before the truck came to a stop, calling out for me. He was so excited to show me the new mini-hand sanitizer his parents gave him. No sooner did he offer me a little sanitizer that his younger sister had also hopped out of the truck to make the same offer. As I was walking away wishing them a wonderful extended weekend, the preschooler shouted, “I can’t wait to see you at Mass again!”

What touched the heart of this little preschooler was something I didn’t even see coming. God works in mysterious ways. In one moment, all of the ordinary things: the early mornings, the alarm to go turn on the boilers, and each step down the hallway to grab the garbage, all had new meaning. Each of us are gifted with moments in which the ordinary becomes the extraordinary.

Making a difference happens even when we think what we have to offer is insignificant and doesn’t matter. But, it is in all of these little things that we offer through the lens of faith that changes lives, much like the little child’s five loaves and two fish at the feeding of the five thousand.

I believe that endowments guarantee that we can continue giving to what we are passionate about, so that these little moments can continue in people’s lives, even if it is something small they are not expecting. As a pastor of a parish and a school, every gift is so critical to our mission and ministry, but so is the generosity of gifts that keep on giving, the endowed gift.

Endowments help us to have more freedom for ministry, whether through parish works or school missions. They allow us to offer something greater and it often comes through endowed gifts, regardless how big or small they are. When we all work together, with God’s help, we can accomplish amazing things that touch even the smallest of hearts.