Stewardship Tip September 2007

Good stewardship in bad times…

 “I’m not giving to the Bishop’s Appeal this year – I don’t want my money spent on lawyers and settlements!”  Ever hear anyone say that at your parish?  What’s a good steward to do?  How can we be assured that the money we give will be spent wisely on things that we value and support?  Those are good questions – they’re just not the right questions for a Christian steward.  While we sincerely hope that those who are the recipients of our giving will be good stewards of those gifts, it is the stewardship of our own gifts that should concern us.  We have been blessed abundantly – and we need to give in gratitude for those blessings.  For those who embrace stewardship as a way of life, it’s no longer a question of simply giving to need, no matter how urgent the need.  It’s a matter of needing to give as an expression of thanksgiving and a way of mirroring the gracious, no-strings-attached giving of God.

 And giving to the diocesan or archdiocesan appeal is a special sort of giving.  As Roman Catholics, we’re not in this alone.  Individual believers – you and I – are members of parishes which are members of dioceses which are members of the Church Universal.  We’re all in it together!  And when we share what we’ve been given with our parishes and our dioceses and the hard-working priest who comes to make the missionary appeal for those he serves in a far-off corner of the world, we celebrate our unity as the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church” we acknowledge each Sunday as an article of faith.  We proclaim our solidarity with our brothers and sisters across town and across the globe and, by the generous sharing of God’s gifts to us, are able to do together what none of us can do alone. 

 These are hard times in the Church.  For several years now, it’s been almost impossible to pick up a newspaper without seeing an article about clergy sex abuse or church closings and consolidations or possible bankruptcy.  But if we persevere in being good stewards of the gifts God has given us – if we continue to give generously of our time in prayer, of our talents in service to others, and of our financial resources to our Church at every level and to other good worthy causes – we can be sure that God, who cannot be outdone in generosity, will be faithful to his promises and will pour out his Holy Spirit upon his Church in these difficult times.  May our continued good stewardship be a sign of our faith in – and our willingness to work toward – better days ahead for our Church and our world!