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Stewardship
Stewardship
is now understood as a way of life, the faithful response of a
Christian disciple to the Lord’s invitation to follow him “without
counting the cost.”
In “Stewardship:
A Disciple’s Response”, the bishops offer four essential
characteristics of a Christian steward:
A Christian Steward
is: One, who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cultivates them
responsibly, shares them lovingly in justice with others, and returns
them with increase to the Lord.
If one is to grow as
a steward, one must give attention to these four areas. Stewardship is
a way of life, an attitude of the mind and heart that is expressed
in action.
~Catholic Diocese of
Cleveland
Stewardship Message from Bishop Richard G.
Lennon
As your parish embraces this formation process in stewardship as a way
of life, I want to affirm the importance of stewardship within our
Catholic faith. Stewardship as a way of life and discipleship is so
central to our Church life that I established a diocesan office to
support and develop it.
Good and faithful stewards recognize that God is the origin of life,
the giver of all we have, are, and will be. As Catholics we believe
that all we have in our lives has been entrusted to us by God. Notice,
I said “entrusted” not “given”. What I mean by this is that our
relationships, our work, our time, our possessions, and our very life
itself, are all given to us by God not to become our possessions, but
to be our means for life and instruments for building the Kingdom on
earth. Good stewards recognize that we are responsible to God for the
manner in which we use all that he has entrusted to us. ( more)
Stewardship of
Time
No gift is
greater than time, and yet nothing is so easy to waste.
Contrary to our cultural norms, good Stewardship of time doesn’t
mean being busy all the time. Time spent in prayer, nurturing
relationships with our family and friends or just enjoying the
beauty of the world around us is time well spent. In fact,
taking “time out” to nourish ourselves spiritually can be the
best thing we can do to deepen our relationship with God.
Stewardship
requires the spiritual use of time. To the Christian steward
motivated by love of God and mankind, there is a practical
understanding of time. Recognizing that each instant of the day
has been God-given, the Christian steward understands that the
application of his time need not be confined to the use in
strict liturgical formality but should be applied to a liturgy
of Christian living throughout the day, as well.
A simple
commitment upon awaking each day to make every minute of the day
dedicated to a love for God, and a simple commitment of
thanksgiving at the close of each day provide the guidelines for
using time in a Christian sense all day long. These guidelines
set the pace for action and reaction in every effort. By
following these guidelines – spirituality, grace, hope, love,
charity, compassion and justice will be derived whether the
action takes place within the family, at school, in business, at
one’s trade, in social life, or even in leisure.
At the very
least, parishioners should make the most of their observance of
the Lord’s Day. Even more, people will grow in their faith by
spending time in daily prayer.
Stewardship of
Talent
Each of us has
varied talents. Talents include being a good listener, being
able to organize people, relating well to children or teens,
being patient with others and numerous other less-recognized
gifts. Our gifts often change during our lives: in our youth
our gift may be energy; when we’re older, it may be knowledge.
We are each one-of-a-kind creations of God with unique
contributions to make in this world.
The
Stewardship of talent calls us to search out those talents,
nurture them, and help them to grow, and then share them with
other human beings. Our first and greatest commandment, “To
love our God with our whole heart, our whole soul and our whole
mind.” We do that by using our God-given talents for the
benefit of others, and doing that brings us directly to our
second greatest commandment, “To love our neighbor as we love
ourselves.”
We are often
held back from recognizing or sharing our gifts because of a
narrow definition of “talent.” We think “talented people” are
extraordinary achievers or have easily identifiable gifts, such
as musical ability or artistic talent. We must remember that
each one of us was created by God and was given the ability to
serve God and each other in some way.
As Christians
we recognize that our gifts of talents and skills are meant to
be cultivated and shared with others, beginning with our family
and friends, with our parish community and with
the world. Sharing the gift of ourselves is how we express our
gratitude for being created as a unique and gifted people.
St. Paul
reminds us: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts,
but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of
serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different
talents . . . but the same God gives talent to everyone.” (1Cor.
12: 4-7)
Stewardship of
Treasure
Jesus said, “Where
your treasure is, there your heart will also be also.”
Matthew 6:21
When
it comes to spirituality, things of the heart, money matters.
How we use money, what we think of it, whether we are willing to
share it – all make a difference in the way we live our lives,
because, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”
Catholics are
called to give witness to the Stewardship of treasure in and
through support of their parish communities and through the
larger diocese in which they live. Of course, this means
contributing to the support of the parish –and to its many
ministries. But Stewardship of treasure means much more than
church support. It means accepting money – and all the material
things we possess – as gifts to be cherished and shared,
not for their own sake but for the good of others, especially
our families, our communities and those whose needs are greater
than our own. Catholics are invited, and challenged, to make
gifts to the parish and the diocese that are planned,
proportionate, and sacrificial -- not simply because, “They
need the money,” but because each of us has a need to give,
as God has given generously to us.
Diocese of
Cleveland
More
Information
Using the image of a
garden, we might ask ourselves the question:
What have you done
with the garden entrusted to you?
Antonio Machado
In September
2008, Bishop Robert Morneau gave a presentation on “The Spirituality
of Stewardship” at a conference in Cleveland, Ohio. He presented
this idea of stewardship as different gardens that we are called to
tend in our lives. Stewardship entails accepting all aspects of our
lives as gifts and inviting God into each.
Garden of the
Body
Garden of
Relationships
Garden of our
Environment
Garden of
Decisions
Garden of “Polis”
Garden of
Emotions
Garden of the
Arts
Garden of the
Soul
Garden of History
Garden of
Technology
Garden of Money
and Supplies
Garden of the
Mind
Many of these
gardens overlap and intersect. But each of them calls for a certain
amount of tending and care. Each of us must decide on how to allocate
our limited time and resources in attempting to be good stewards of
these many gardens!
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