A lawyer recently sent me a letter.

He said I overpaid on my taxes. He said he would go to court and get the money back. He told me I’d receive $1,000.

I want you to help me spend it.

Well, not all of it. I decided to keep half (this is to remind you that I may be a priest, but I’m not Jesus).

However, the other half, $500 - I want you to help me give it away.

So I’m asking 10 parishioners to take $50 and creatively spend it.

I don’t want you to simply pass it on to your favorite charity – no - take time and pray, then act. Whose day can I make? What’s that creative Spirit saying to me?

Maybe you’ll buy $50 of really great chocolate and make brownies for a shut in. Maybe you’ll go to the Eastern Market and buy $50 of flowers and give them away on the street corner. Maybe you’ll buy a crate of apples and make applesauce for our homeless friends?

So if you want in, send me an email, a letter, or a text. I’ll choose the top 10 and arrange to get you your cash.

The only hitch is that you have to report back to me in a month and tell me what you did. I may make your story public, but I won’t use your name if you don’t want me to. After all, it is a ‘secret society.’

Why am I doing this? Because November is stewardship season and I constantly need to remind myself of the liberating power of giving. And if your pastor can’t be generous, what business do I have asking you to be?

So go ahead, start dreaming – it’s a season of generosity – who can you bless? How can you bless them?