Stewardship
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August 17, 2024This weekend, we are having our Annual Ministry Fair. It is meant to give you an opportunity to actively participate in the mission of building up our parish community and exercise your vocation as the Lord’s good stewards. Stewardship is our approach to the gifts that God has bestowed upon us. It is living out a commitment to be Christ-centered rather than self-centered. Profound gratitude, justice and love become the fundamental motives for giving back to God. Everything that God has given tous is intended to serve the divine plan.
Stewardship includes and is organized into three areas of giving: time, talent, and treasure. All three of these areas are precious resources, not created by us, but given to us by our loving Father, who asks us, as stewards, to use them wisely and generously in bringing others to Him.“God wishes human beings to be His collaborators in the work of creation, redemption, and sanctification; and such collaboration involves stewardship in its most profound sense.” (Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response)
True stewardship means giving back to God proportionately, sacrificially and generously in not one, but all three of these areas. Each area is an integral part of ourselves and to hold onto any of them is to hold back from giving ourselves over completely to the Father.
Time. Time is the result of God’s precious gift to us: Life. Because He gave us life, He also gave us time. To be good stewards of time means spending time with God,with family, with work, with our parish and community, and with relaxation.
Talents. When we consider the many skills and abilities God has given others and us, we begin to see how truly remarkable His generosity is. What we choose to do is usually the result of the talents God gives us. Stewards of talent recognize that using the abilities God has given them should serve Him by serving others. As with the use of time, stewardship of talent asks us to share what God has given us generously, not only in our homes and in our work, but also in our parish community.
Treasures. Money and all of the things we possess are gifts from God that we are asked to care for and generously and sacrificially share for our own benefit and the good of others. It is important for us to share our money and all of our material resources for two reasons:First, because all the good things that God has made(including money) are meant to be shared, and second,because each of us has a need to give. It is good for the soul.
In summary, time can be described as who we are; talentas what we do; treasure as what we have. They are all gifts from God. “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (Peter 4:10)
