The Heart of a Steward.

The person with a steward's heart readily believes and accepts that all we are and have is a gift from God, life, time, treasure, talent, resources. All belongs to God who entrust his gifts to us.

Develop and nurture them (e.g., developing a gift for music, a gift for making money, a gift for helping the poor).

To manage and use wisely and generously his gifts to bless our families, church and wider community.

Even though I do not know how religious of a man George Bernard Shaw was, I do love the following excerpt from a speech he gave in England in 1907.

Catholic Church Ideal 5% to Parish, 5% to the Poor.

As you may know, Protestant ministers who preach on the biblical ideal of tithing say we should give 10% to the church and before we remove taxes. That to me is a bit Irish. Our church holds out to us Catholics the ideal of 5% to our parish and 5% to the poor.

My Story

I embraced the idea of giving 5% to church 5% to the poor , after attending a stewardship conference in Orlando a few years ago. After the conference, I decided to make the following four changes.

First: I did some arithmetic on my monthly income, and decided to do what our church invites us to do, give 5% to our parish and 5% to charity/poor. So for the first time I checked what percentage of my income I gave and started to give 5 % to the parish and set aside 5% for the poor.

Second: I started to give on a weekly basis rather than once a month. If I am away for a weekend or on vacation, my weekly tithe is still given to my home parish.

Thirdly: I started to give publicly rather than privately. This was a big stretch for me. I met a priest at the Orlando Conference with a big commitment to stewardship. He told how he has been giving publicly for some time. He said "Eamon, it's a good example. The people need to see your example in this matter" I really didn't want to do it, but somehow I knew that it was the right thing to do and so I stretched my comfort zone. So now, my practice is to place an envelope in the basket at every weekend Mass at which I am the Presider. Of course, only one envelope has my tithe in it.

Fourthly: As a result of the Orlando Conference, I decided to open a Giving Account. Now when I take a deposit to the bank to place in my regular checking account, I take 10% of it and place it in my Giving Account. My donations to the poor and church are written from Giving Account. That is my little story and I feel very self-conscious telling it. I only tell it so that you know that I practice what I preach in this area of the Christian life.

I can't solve all the financial problems in the church or in the world, but I can do my bit. Like all people who move in this direction, I am glad that I have taken the above steps. Like others who tithe, I can say that I don't miss the money and God more than provides for my needs. Also, tithing helps to keep my stingy and greedy tendencies in check. If you have a story of how you started to tithe, and how it is a blessing in your life, I'd love to hear from you.

Reflection Questions

To what extent do you see our use of money as an integral part of gospel living just as issues like forgiveness, justice, prayer, time and talent are an essential part of the Christian life.

2. Where are you at with this part of the gospel?

A Stewardship Prayer