Thoughts on Stewardship

You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God  1 Peter 1:23

Stewardship is a privilege, an honor for those who are faithful followers, for those who are true believers of Jesus Christ. Within stewardship rests a call for charity, humility, obedience. Within stewardship rests a formula for being a good Catholic, a good Christian, a good human. Within stewardship rests a call to be merciful with your neighbors and yourself. Stewardship asks each one of to be gracious and merciful. Stewardship asks each one of us to be humble. Stewardship asks each one of us to share our love of God in our own unique way.

There are no time limits, there are no restrictions. There are no rules. There is only a request that you share goodness, kindness, and holiness. 

Avoid feeling pressured to do something, to say something.

The best examples of stewardship are often spontaneous, unplanned, natural. How you greet a stranger, how you answer your spouse can all be signs of stewardship in your life. I am often walking somewhere, often in a hurry to get somewhere and at those times someone will ask a question like "How do I get to Union Station from here?" or "Is the Zoo close? Am I going the right direction?" or "What's the best way to get to Georgetown from here driving?" I have any number of choices starting with ignoring the person, suggesting that they buy a map, suggesting they ask either a policeman or bus driver, or I can take the time and try to explain how to reach their destination.

Human interaction, face to face communication is becoming more and more rare as technology keeps creating new ways for us to communicate that can also keep people apart. As Christians we are asked to be vigilant, to be aware. We are asked to be active participants of our faith, active participants within our faith community. We can be observers. We can be doers. We can wait to be asked. We can ask others to help.

Being Catholic starts with an interaction between God and the individual. Being Catholic is not a membership. Being Catholic involves answering the call to love and serve the Lord. Stewardship provides an avenue to love and serve the Lord in our day to day existence. 

Although the Church wants some of your stewardship activities directed toward strengthening, nurturing of the Church community, stewardship is an act is best when done out of love, compassion, and mercy. All acts of stewardship are welcome. All acts that show the power and glory of God are necessary and good. We should do as many good deeds as possible both inside and outside of our Church community. Our deeds and words can spread our belief in God, can share our love for God.

Stewardship is a way for us to share the Good News with others, to proclaim our love for God.

Be A Guardian

Each Christian has the responsibility to be a guardian for the Lord, to be a steward for the Lord. Being involved, spreading the Good News, integrating the teachings of the Gospels into daily living are the hallmark of stewardship. Christianity provides God’s voice for both believers and non-believers, followers and non-followers. Christians share the truth about God’s grace and mercy; Christians warn others about the consequences of not believing, of being wicked. Christians are invited to speak out for God, to speak for goodness, holiness, kindness. Christians are invited to encourage others to believe in God, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Each Christian is invited to share humility, to nurture obedience, to create charity. Each Catholic is asked to love his neighbor as he loves himself, and to love God with all his heart. God is to be preeminent in the lives of all Christians. The life of each Christian is to be away from sin, away from being bad. The world is filled with wickedness, all types of violence, all types of violence, all types of activities which can lead a man away from God. We are responsible for being sincere, for being truthful and loving when dealing with others, when leading others to God. We are all asked to invite others to turn away from a sinful and sorrowful life, to turn God and eternal life.

The life of each Christian is a prayer for the souls of all human beings, a prayer to save ourselves, our communities, our neighbors.

We are asked to be concerned about each other, about the environment, about fairness, about social justice.

The character of faith and being Christian is a riddle for many nonbelievers. Christ presents a solution for good living, a path to salvation. Christ presents each one of us the opportunity to be confident. God asks for uncontrolled, unconditional communication from each one of us. We are asked to discover the language of hope, the language of passion. Life is filled with choices, with difficulty. There is an endless search for definitions and descriptions and explanations and instructions. Life provides endless things to love and hate. As Christians we are encouraged to be Christ-like, to be selfless, to be moral, ethical.

Our Christian gaze begins with charity, includes concern for the community, for all those visible and invisible. Our Christian life can lead us to serve God, can lead us to stewardship.