Stewardship
Stewardship Prayer
Loving God,
Jesus, teach us to pray. Help us to manage our time so that we can spend it with You.
Holy Spirit, fill us with Your gifts. May we offer ourselves in sacrifice for our parish and for all in need.
Father, give us generous hearts. Help us to manage our finances and to offer first fruits to You.
As your faithful disciples, we ask this for ourselves and for Catholics everywhere, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Formed in the Heart
“Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself...because of this, God highly exalted him.” (Phil 2:6-11)
Stewardship
As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops tells us in Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response, “Stewardship involves a lifelong process of study, reflection, prayer, and action. To make stewardship a way of life, it requires a change of heart and a new understanding of what it means to follow Jesus without counting the cost.”
This conversion of mind and heart begins with a strong foundation in the principles of our Faith. Ongoing personal formation strengthens our faith, both as individuals and ultimately as a parish community. Ongoing Catholic education for children and adults is vital to our own personal growth as disciples of Christ. This education of the mind and conversion of the heart helps us to live the stewardship way of life rather than simply understand it.
Stewardship Of Time
The foundation of our prayer lives and our ongoing formation as Catholic stewards begins with the Mass. The celebration of the Sunday Mass Liturgy gives us the spiritual nourishment that we need to live our lives as faithful stewards. The Eucharist not only feeds us, but also challenges us to share the gifts we have received with others. We are sent “to love and serve the Lord” at the conclusion of the Mass. A constant challenge exists for us to make the correlation between our call to discipleship as stewards and the liturgies we celebrate.
Each time we pray, we invite God into our lives at that moment, strengthening the foundation that we stand upon. During this year’s Stewardship Renewal, will you seek to strengthen your relationship with God?
Consider the following to deepen your prayer life:
- Pope Francis’ encouragement is to spend time in prayerful study of the Scriptures, asking God what He would have you learn about Him and His will for your life through His Word.
- Go before Him in the Blessed Sacrament in adoration, giving Him thanks for the good things He has brought to your life and asking for help in the challenges.
- Research the lives of the saints, read their works, and ask God for the grace to live as they did.
- Download and utilize Catholic phone and tablet apps, such as iBreviary, Magnificat, Vatican News, Divine Office and Hallow; or podcasts such as The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz).
Stewardship of Talent
TalentThe work of stewardship and evangelization always begins at home — “home” in our own hearts, and then the “home” of our parish. Of course, a faithful
steward shares his or her talents by serving others, but an important step toward growing closer to Christ is through a personal commitment to a life of continual conversion in Christ through the life of the Church.
As Catholic adults, our continued formation is a talent we must cultivate for our entire lives. Whether it is regularly reading Scripture, attending Scripture study classes, participating in retreats, or engaging in meaningful discussions on the faith with our Catholic friends and fellow parishioners, there is a multitude of ways we can grow in our faith. Thanks to modern technology, the Internet gives us a seemingly endless supply of formational opportunities. Ultimately, by emphasizing our own personal formation, we in turn will have something more meaningful to give back to our loved ones, our parish family and the Church.
Consider taking these steps to share the gifts God has given you:
- Search usccb.org (the website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) or vatican.va (the website for the Holy See) for the daily readings, documents regarding faith and morality, and wisdom from Pope Francis.
- Read one paragraph from the Catechism every day.
- Seek out answers to the questions you’ve had about our faith by talking to priests and knowledgeable parishioners.
- Participate in faith formation opportunities available at our parish.
Stewardship of Treasure
God has a plan for every aspect of your life, including your finances. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2404) tells us to be “stewards of providence,” and calls us to use our resources not just for our own good, but also for the good of God’s work in the Church. Creating a personal budget is one way to apply God’s principles to our finances and become better managers of the resources He has entrusted to us. We must learn how to take the gifts God has given us – our skills, our abilities and our income – and use them for His work.
Consider taking these steps to express gratitude for the treasure God has gifted you:
Take a look at your current spending habits, and assess what expenses are preventing you from offering your treasure more selflessly.
Ask yourself if your family budget reflects what you most love in this life so that your spending is a reflection of that love. “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Luke 12:34).
Commit to giving a percentage of your income to God through the parish offertory as an expression of your love for the God who withholds nothing of Himself from us.
As a parish, St. Francis Solanus breaks down the tithe as follows:
6% to the parish offertory
4% to other charities
If the goal of giving the tithe seems difficult to attain, consider increasing your annual offertory gift incrementally by 1 or 2% each year until you reach it. It may take some time, but eventually, you can reach the point where it is clear both in your finances and in your daily life What and Who is most important. In the meantime, choose a percentage of your income to give each week or month, and be faithful to it, even when you attend Mass elsewhere.