Stewardship of Prayer
Stewardship begins with Prayer – one of gratitude for the blessings and gifts we have received. With that gratitude comes the question, “Lord what would you have me to do with all that you have given to me? What is your plan, your purpose, your will? How can I serve you?
“Lord God, guide us to acknowledge your abundant blessings, and to use them to care for each other as Jesus taught us.”
Stewardship of Time
A true understanding of Stewardship begins with taking care of and sharing the gift of time. But how much time? Each of us is given only so much of it, and planning a careful schedule in order to have the time to work, to rest, to play, to pray, to attend Mass, to volunteer and to sit quietly with those in need is vital in the stewardship of our physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual lives.
Stewardship of Talent
If stewardship means taking care of, and sharing, all God’s gifts, then stewardship of the gift of talent means nurturing, developing, and using the God-given abilities and characteristics that help to define “who we are” as individual human persons.
How can we use our skills in music, teaching, cooking or repairing to help others?
What talents to organize, write, speak or listen do we have that could be used to serve God? Can we develop the ability to encourage others through our own Leadership in giving of self to others first?
Each of us is called to live out divine love in our own way. Our response is uniquely our own.
Stewardship of Treasure
Have I given back to God what he has entrusted to me? True stewardship is taking care of and sharing all that we have and all that we are. Money and all of the things that we possess are gifts from God that we are asked to care for and generously share for our own benefit and the good of others
Why do we need to give? We need to give our money to individuals and families in need, to the Church, and to other worthwhile charitable organizations because giving money is good for the soul and because we need to return thanks to a loving God for all of the many blessings each of us has received.
How much do I have to give?” The answer (from a stewardship perspective) is nothing. We don’t have to give anything. “How much do we want to give?” is the question that stewardship asks Stewardship is not minimum giving. It is maximum giving. That means giving as much as we can, as often as we can, from the heart as a faith response because we are generous stewards who want to share our time, talent, and treasure with others.
