Prologue:

This is the twelfth in a series of articles that will be appearing in the Sunday bulletin over the next several weeks. These articles are designed to help our parishioners understand what stewardship is all about and guide our parishioners in supporting our parish through prayer, service, and sharing.

Chapter Twelve:  Living as a Steward

The following is taken from the third chapter of Stewardship a Disciple’s Response, A Pastoral Letter on Stewardship. First published in 1993, the Pastoral Letter from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops addresses Stewardship in chapters entitled the Call, Jesus’ Way, Living as a Steward, Stewards of the Church, and The Christian Steward.  The following is a summary of Living as a Steward:

In the two previous chapters, the Bishops reflected in general terms upon Christian life considering   discipleship and stewardship.  In this chapter, “Living as Stewards”, the Bishops focus on how those called to be Disciples and Stewards collaborate with God in the work of creation and cooperate with God in the work of redemption.

God wishes human beings to be His collaborators in the work of creation, redemption and sanctification.  This involves stewardship in the most profound sense.  We exercise such stewardship not merely by our own power, but by the power of the Spirit of truth, whom Jesus promises to His followers and whom we see at work at the first Pentecost inspiring the apostles to commence the proclamation of the good news (cf. Jn 14:16-17 and Acts 2:1-4).  God’s love for humankind is shown not only in creation of all things but His creation of us in His divine image and likeness.  As part of this resemblance to God, we are called to cooperate with the Creator in continuing the divine work (cf. Pope John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, 25).  Stewardship of creation is one expression of this divine work.  We are called to cultivate and care for the earth (cf. Gn. 2:15).  Through this work—we see human achievements as a “sign of God’s greatness and the flowering of his own mysterious design.”  While it is lived out by individuals in countless ways corresponding to each personal vocation, human cooperation with God’s work of creation in general takes several forms.  One of these is a profound reverence for the great gift of life--their own lives and the lives of others--along with readiness to serve, preserve and enhance life.  Vatican II speaks of the surpassing ministry of safeguarding life and declares that from the moment of its conception life must be guarded with the greatest care.  Living as a Steward according to the Bishops means we are cultivating a heightened sense of human interdependence and solidarity—caring for the earth and those that live on it.

In the work of redemption, everyone has some natural responsibility for a portion of the world and an obligation in caring for it to acknowledge God’s dominance.  Stewards by grace are made by Baptism and are called to act on God’s behalf in cultivating and serving the portion of the world entrusted to their care.  Using the perfect model of this stewardship, Jesus, we are called to share our time for prayer, family, and faith.  Such stewardship of disciples involves embracing, cultivating, enjoying, sharing—and sometimes also giving up—the goods of human life.  Christians live this way in the confidence that comes from faith: for they know that the human goods they cherish and cultivate will be perfected—and they themselves will be fulfilled—in that kingdom, already present, which Christ will bring to perfection and one day hand over to the Father.

 (To be continued next week….)  [Top]