A Knock and a Wave
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock…” (Rev 3:20).
This is the biblical theme our Stewardship Council has chosen to characterize the Stewardship Way of Life for 2025. As I near the end of my time as Pastor at St. Francis of Assisi, these words possess a profound meaning for me—and for us. For ten years, I have watched this parish answer Christ’s knock again and again—with grace, generosity, and a courageous “yes.” You have embodied what it means to be stewards of the mysteries of God (cf. 1 Cor 4:1)—disciples who recognize that everything we are and have is a gift to be received, cultivated, and returned to God.
On July 1st, I will begin a new chapter as the Diocesan Vicar for Evangelization, Stewardship, and Discipleship. It is a role I embrace with humility, knowing that what I have witnessed and lived here will now inform my service to the wider Church. My heart is full—grateful for the past, inspired for the future, and deeply aware of the grace that binds it all together.
When I arrived at St. Francis in 2015, I inherited a document written by parishioners of this parish titled Living Life As God Has Intended It. This document was meant to summarize the Stewardship Way of Life and to help other parishes establish this beautiful Way within their own communities. Now, upon my departure, if I could summarize what I have witnessed in our parish, it is this: you have lived life as God intended it—a life of Eucharistic communion, joyful sacrifice, and daily conversion. You have not merely done stewardship; you have become stewards. You have embraced the truth that the call to stewardship is not about parish programs or financial goals, but about the totality of life lived in response to divine love—a response born of the conviction that we are all called to holiness, having been caught up in the love of the Father for the Son and embraced in the power of the Holy Spirit.
While here, I also completed my thesis titled Stewardship: A Grateful Response to God’s Abundant Gifts. Truly, this parish has shown that this title is not a slogan—it is a spirituality. It is a way of life in which gratitude is the engine of discipleship, and every moment becomes an opportunity to glorify God. Stewardship in this parish is not transactional—it is transformational. This parish is Eucharistic, because everything flows from and returns to the altar. (Do you remember my teaching? A.L.T.A.R. – Adore, Love, Thank, Ask, Receive.) This parish is personal, because it respects the dignity of each person’s story. And this parish is communal, because it draws all into the life of the Mystical Body of Christ.
This way of life is not accidental—it has been intentionally cultivated through your daily choices. I have seen it in the hands that prepare the altar, the parents who bring their children to formation, the quiet tithe given in lean times, the suffering off ered up in union with Christ. I have seen it in you.
The mission statement that I was honored to help shape eight years ago remains a guidepost for this parish: To be united in the Eucharist and formed as instruments of peace through the practice of stewardship in imitation of God’s Triune love. This mission echoes a foundational truth of stewardship: we are not possessors, but receivers; not owners, but stewards. We are called to share the life of the Triune God by living in communion and self-gift. And that is precisely what you have done.
This mission has also been guided by my own personal mission statement that has animated every homily, every class, and every conversation of my priesthood: To preach and teach the Eucharistic person of Jesus Christ, so as to inspire and enliven hearts to the love of God the Father, in the fire of the Holy Spirit, unto the salvation of souls. If anything I’ve said or done has pointed you more deeply toward the Eucharistic Christ, then my mission has borne fruit.
And so now, my parting prayer for you is this: never miss a Sunday Mass. Never miss the opportunity to live a life of worship. If a top, a child’s toy, balances on a fine point, then the point of our lives is the worship of the living God—and it upholds everything else. As I have frequently said—and I pray that each of you will commit this to memory—the God who is a Communion of Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—desires to be worshiped in a communion of persons: the Mass. The Mass is our synaxis, our Eucharistic center.
That same Eucharistic center—Christ, truly present and poured out—is what I now carry into diocesan ministry. My work as Vicar for Evangelization, Stewardship, and Discipleship will not be abstract or distant. It will be shaped by you, forged through the gauntlet of ten years of life as your pastor. It will be shaped by school Masses filled with the sound of children’s voices, by the sacred silence of Adoration chapels, by the shared burdens and blessings of parish life. The vision we’ve built here will now echo into parishes across the diocese.
So I ask you: remain attentive to the knock. Be stewards not just of treasure, but of time, talent, suffering, and joy. Be stewards of one another. Let the Eucharist remain the center—not just of your Sunday, but of your entire life.
For stewardship, as I’ve written before, is not a program but a conversion. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who makes us cry out, “Abba, Father,” and transforms every baptized person into a missionary disciple. It is the work of divine love transforming human hearts, so that what we have received, we might return—gloriously, joyfully, and forever.
Thank you for allowing me to walk this road with you. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your pastor, teacher, and brother. I carry your stories in my soul and your names in my prayer.
Christ has knocked. You have answered.
And now, as I stand at our parish doors and wave goodbye, I will never forget what this parish family looks like, here, in this holy corner of West Wichita. But one happy thought I take with me, this is my family’s parish, and I will come back to celebrate mile-markers in faith with them… which means my last word can be this, “See Ya’ at Mass.”
Father Jarrod Lies, Pastor