According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), “Stewardship is the response of the disciple to God’s unconditional love for us.”
As a Christian way of life, stewardship:
- recognizes that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and
- compels us to be grateful and generous with those gifts.
It is rooted in Scriptures, revealing that we, as individuals, are not absolute owners but rather stewards or managers. Faithful stewards see everything good as gifts received from God and they respond in gratitude with the gift of self. Thus, stewardship is a proper expression of one's discipleship to Christ.
Each of us has received a different “sum”—a unique mix of talents, opportunities, challenges, weaknesses and strengths, potential modes of service and response—on which the Master expects a return. One day God will require an accounting of the use each of us has made of the particular portion of these goods entrusted to us ... and we will be judged according to what we have done with what we have been given.
Everyone is given the same amount of time: 24 hours in a day, 365 days a year. It is a very precious gift given to us by God. We cannot manufacture more it and it also cannot be stored up like grain in a barn. Once a momment passes, it is gone forever.
Time is the most limited resource we have as most of us feel we don't have enough time for all the things we want to do. Thus, we must ask ourselves: How am I choosing to use my time?
"For Catholics, stewardship of time should include setting aside periods for family prayer, for the reading of Scripture, for visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and for the attendance at Mass during the week..."
-U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Letter on Stewardship
Every skill, talent, and ability is a gift from God. All of us have been blessed with them, whether we are aware of them or not or whether we have developed our talents or not. These are not given to us just for our own use and benefit, but also to bless others and build His kingdom.
Our call to practice Stewardship of Talent is an invitation to discern where and how the Spirit is calling us to serve. Christ asks of us to do His works in our community and his Church. Our talents are God’s gift to us, what we do with them is our gift to God.
"As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace"
1 Peter 4:10
Check out the different ministries where you can help serve our community and His Church. Serving together, not only strengthens our bond with one another, but we also deepens our relationship with God.
Throughout Scripture, we are taught to give God our "first fruits" or the "choicest portion". Returning a portion of our income to God is a powerful expression of God's place in our life, both symbolically and in actuality.
"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with first fruits…"
Proverbs 3:9
Best practices:
- Create and maintain a household budget
- Plan your giving for the year
- Use direct deposit or online giving (if applicable)
- Suggested tithing is 10% of income that may broken down as follows: 5% to parish, 1% to archdiocese and 4% to other charitable causes of your choice.
