October 2006 Stewardship Tip

 The spirituality of stewardship – practice makes perfect!

Usually, this section of the website offers tips on how to deepen and enhance parish stewardship or suggests ways to invite parishioners to embrace stewardship as a way of life. This month’s tip is more personal – an invitation to practice an ever-deeper spirituality of stewardship, to cultivate, even more intentionally, an attitude of radical gratitude. The bishops’ pastoral letter on stewardship says that “Good stewards receive God’s gifts gratefully…” – that’s the very first step. Good stewards must be aware of – and grateful for – their many blessings. And so here’s the challenge: Can you find and be actively grateful for 100 things a day, every day? If that sounds like a big number, consider that if you are awake for 16 hours a day, that’s about seven blessings per hour – one every nine minutes or so. You can keep track of them on your hands – ten for each finger. Or use the rosary in your pocket – just two blessings for each bead adds up to more than 100! People who have tried it say that the more they look for reasons to be grateful, the more reasons they find and the more intentional they become about the stewardship of those blessings. Try it for a month and see. Chances are, you’ll reap the hundred-fold!