$168! Where am I going with this? Well, during the confirmation retreats, I carry 168 dollar bills. I simply ask the youth, that if I were to give them this money, what would they do with it? Of course I receive answers from "spend it on clothes or stereo equipment" to "putting it into my savings account." I have even heard young people say that they would give it all back. And I ask you, what would you do, if you were given $168?

Of course, through the conversation we are always able to lead to the fact that we should give some of it back to the Church. As we know, everything we have — everything we are given — is a gift from God. And we are called by God to give back a portion of what we are given. We are quickly reminded that the amount we give back should be 10 percent. So with the youth we take the $168 and round it up to $170. I have found that during these retreats, our young people have no problem saying that $17 should be given to the Church. And they would gladly do this.

Now I ask that you reflect on this, as the youth do. There are 24 hours in a day, seven day in a week. Twenty-four times 7 is 168! I ask you, as I do the youth, how many of us give back to God 17 hours each week of the time that God has given to us? Where are we on our journey to the Father? Other than Mass each week, how much time are we giving back to God? My guess is that when we actually take the time and think about it, we are giving back more than we realize. Simply put, this leads me to my request.

I need your help. Summer is quickly approaching which means that so too is our summer camping program: June 1-4 for our 5th and 6th graders and June 21-24 for our 7th and 8th graders. I am in need of camp counselors. So, I ask that you prayerfully consider the 168 hours that God gives you each week, and ask yourself, can I give back to God some time that I have been given and help with a summer camp? Yes, this may mean taking part of my vacation time and missing work. Yes, it may mean extra giving from my family. But what we have learned is that when we give back to God, our reward will be even greater.