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Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response

Living out our Christian discipleship means that we are good stewards – that we are truly thankful, responsible and generous caretakers of God’s many blessings. As disciples, we are called to follow in Jesus’s example of his complete self-gift by:

• Receiving God’s gifts gratefully
• Cultivating them responsibly
• Sharing them lovingly in justice with others
• Returning them with an increase to the Lord

God has entrusted us with the gifts of material creation, our individual vocation, and the living out of God’s mission through the Church. Gratefully caring for these gifts leads to these tangible examples of stewardship in our daily lives:

• Stewardship of Creation: Respecting life, protecting the environment and developing our world through noble human labor
• Stewardship of Vocation: Faithfully carrying out our unique individual roles in God’s plan
• Stewardship of the Church: Prayerfully sharing our time, talent and treasure to fulfill the mission of the parish, diocese, and universal Church

Stewardship as a Way of Life

Stewardship is not a program or a fundraising effort or a capital campaign. It is about a life of Christian discipleship and there are astonishing implications for our relationships and our daily lives. We can experience life-shaping changes of mind and heart when we commit ourselves to the Lord. We may ask ourselves, “What does Stewardship mean in my life?”  Our gratitude for God’s many gifts can be expressed through our prayer, worship, offerings, and action. Christian stewardship is actively returning to God a portion of the many gifts – our time in prayer, our talent, and our treasure – that we have been given.

As God’s faithful servants, we are called to Stewardship as a way of life by:

• Prayerfully discerning how God has uniquely gifted each one of us
• Reflecting on what priority God and His Church play in our lives
• Deciding how we plan to share these gifts with God and His Church
• Making an intentional, planned and proportionate gift in the areas of time in prayer, talent and treasure.