Stewardship is a core belief in the gospel and it is one of my own core beliefs. I believe that as we embrace a stewardship vision of life, we:
Christian stewardship
Stewardship properly understood embraces all of life and sees all of life as gift-creation, my body, mind and spirit, food and water, material possessions, friendships, time & talents-all given as gift to be received with gratitude, managed wisely and used to bless our families and the communities we belong to.
We can squander the gift of time, waste water and food, neglect our bodies, misuse our gifts by furthering only our own kingdom, ignore our relationships. When we behave this way, we are being poor stewards of God’s blessings. On the contrary, when we care for God’s creation, develop and share our talents and material blessings, etc., we become the Lord’s good and faithful servants.
So while we do usually speak of stewardship in terms of time, treasure and talent, it is really much more than that-it is all aspects of life.
Stewardship of time
Time is a very precious gift. Most of us feel we don’t have enough time for all the things we want to do. Everyone is given the same amount of time, 24 hours each day, 168 hours each week. The question is: How am I choosing to use my time? Henry David Thoreau once said:
“It is not enough to be busy, so are ants.
The question is what are we busy about?”
This week, I invite you to look at how you spend or use
God’s gift of time.
How we spend our time says much about what is important to us. We always make time for what is important to us.
Stewardship of talent
In his first letter, Peter says “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (4:10).
In today’s Gospel, the master (God) has pretty tough words for the servant who buried his talent and tried to blame the master for his lack of action: “You wicked lazy servant.” Obviously, the Lord, the giver of gifts, expects a good return on his investment in us.
I am most grateful for the hundreds of parishioners who generously share with us a portion of their time and talent. Because of their generosity, we have many active ministries in our parish, ministries that touch many lives.
If you are homebound or physically unable to be actively involved in a ministry, please remember that your daily prayer for God’s blessings on our parish team and volunteers is itself a very important ministry. When our Church declared St. Thérèse of Lisieux the patroness of the missions though she never spent a day working in the missions, the Church was communicating the message that prayer for God’s blessing on apostolic works is very important.
Stewardship not an option for a disciple
At the International Stewardship Conference I recently attended, speakers said again and again that we need to remind ourselves and our people that stewardship is an essential part of being a disciple or Christian. One speaker said that no mother gets up in the morning and says, “I think I’ll volunteer to be a mother today.” No, motherhood is part of her DNA. In a similar manner, living the way of a good steward is or should be at the heart and center of every disciple’s life. Our baptism calls us to be good stewards of God’s blessings.
Prayer to radiate Christ
Ideally, we seek to be good stewards of God’s blessing all the time and not just when we are volunteering. Each day allows us to be good stewards in our homes, on the phone, when emailing, texting, talking to others, at the store, at work, recreating, dining, etc. Ideally, I seek to be Christ-like at every moment of every day and at every place and time. To help us to be Christ, we could often say the following prayer.
Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance
everywhere I go today;
Flood my soul with your spirit and life;
penetrate and possess my whole being
so utterly that all my life
may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through me and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with
may feel your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me,
but only Jesus! Amen.
Blessed John Henry Newman
Have a blessed week,
tobin2@live.com
- gradually become the person God created us to be.
- become a blessing to our own family, co-workers, neighbors, church family and other communities we may belong to.
- journey on a path that will lead to the wonderful inner feeling that comes with giving of ourselves to God and others. A life of stewardship is a key to happiness.
Christian stewardship
Stewardship properly understood embraces all of life and sees all of life as gift-creation, my body, mind and spirit, food and water, material possessions, friendships, time & talents-all given as gift to be received with gratitude, managed wisely and used to bless our families and the communities we belong to.
We can squander the gift of time, waste water and food, neglect our bodies, misuse our gifts by furthering only our own kingdom, ignore our relationships. When we behave this way, we are being poor stewards of God’s blessings. On the contrary, when we care for God’s creation, develop and share our talents and material blessings, etc., we become the Lord’s good and faithful servants.
So while we do usually speak of stewardship in terms of time, treasure and talent, it is really much more than that-it is all aspects of life.
Stewardship of time
Time is a very precious gift. Most of us feel we don’t have enough time for all the things we want to do. Everyone is given the same amount of time, 24 hours each day, 168 hours each week. The question is: How am I choosing to use my time? Henry David Thoreau once said:
The question is what are we busy about?”
God’s gift of time.
- How much time is given to nurturing your relationship with God? How much time do you give to studying the Bible and Catholic beliefs?
- How much time is set aside for exercise and recreation?
- How much time is spent watching TV, surfing the internet, or glued to our iphone or ipad?
- How much time is devoted to volunteer work inside or outside the parish?
How we spend our time says much about what is important to us. We always make time for what is important to us.
Stewardship of talent
In his first letter, Peter says “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (4:10).
In today’s Gospel, the master (God) has pretty tough words for the servant who buried his talent and tried to blame the master for his lack of action: “You wicked lazy servant.” Obviously, the Lord, the giver of gifts, expects a good return on his investment in us.
I am most grateful for the hundreds of parishioners who generously share with us a portion of their time and talent. Because of their generosity, we have many active ministries in our parish, ministries that touch many lives.
If you are homebound or physically unable to be actively involved in a ministry, please remember that your daily prayer for God’s blessings on our parish team and volunteers is itself a very important ministry. When our Church declared St. Thérèse of Lisieux the patroness of the missions though she never spent a day working in the missions, the Church was communicating the message that prayer for God’s blessing on apostolic works is very important.
Stewardship not an option for a disciple
At the International Stewardship Conference I recently attended, speakers said again and again that we need to remind ourselves and our people that stewardship is an essential part of being a disciple or Christian. One speaker said that no mother gets up in the morning and says, “I think I’ll volunteer to be a mother today.” No, motherhood is part of her DNA. In a similar manner, living the way of a good steward is or should be at the heart and center of every disciple’s life. Our baptism calls us to be good stewards of God’s blessings.
Prayer to radiate Christ
Ideally, we seek to be good stewards of God’s blessing all the time and not just when we are volunteering. Each day allows us to be good stewards in our homes, on the phone, when emailing, texting, talking to others, at the store, at work, recreating, dining, etc. Ideally, I seek to be Christ-like at every moment of every day and at every place and time. To help us to be Christ, we could often say the following prayer.
everywhere I go today;
Flood my soul with your spirit and life;
penetrate and possess my whole being
so utterly that all my life
may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through me and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with
may feel your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me,
but only Jesus! Amen.
Have a blessed week,
tobin2@live.com
Posted on November 4, 2011
