More Than Money

     There continues to be confusion about what stewardship means. Many often relegate it to an institutional issue rather than a spiritual issue. They see it as an issue of budgets and salaries and speak in terms of the church’s needs. In fact, stewardship is a spiritual issue. It is about the relationship God has established with us in Christ. To treat it less than this is a heartbreaking mistake for us as individual stewards and for our church.

     In this Easter season, we are reminded that God’s grace began with Jesus. We are Christians because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Stewardship is not an end in itself, or a means of salvation. Rather, it is a disciple’s response to a conversion of the heart as a result of our salvation. It is ultimately the pull and power of the Gospel that compels us to commit our whole selves to the Lord. Stewardship is a disciple’s response to what God has done for us in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. 

     “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) God’s gift is not just of a new life for us, but is a whole new life “in Christ.” Every word we speak, every breath we take, and every act we perform is a means of living out our life in Christ, in imitation of Christ’s life. We are each called to build his kingdom in the hearts and minds of others. Our Christian purpose here on earth, then, is a stewardship way of life: to use the resources God has entrusted to us in a way that people will come to know God and feel his love through us.  Stewardship therefore impacts all relationships in life: relationship with God, with our family members, our friends and neighbors, even ourselves. It impacts our relationship with all of creation.     

     In today’s gospel, Jesus returns to the disciples a week after his resurrection. He appears to each in different ways. To those fearful disciples, he speaks words of peace. To doubting Thomas, he provides the tangible proof that Thomas has demanded. Perhaps the first step as a Christian steward today then is to ask ourselves: what do I have to share that meets someone’s needs right now? How can I build God’s kingdom in someone’s heart and mind today? How can I let others feel God’s love in a meaningful way this week?

     We are the hands and feet of Christ. As Christian stewards, we are called to manage God’s gifts so that we may create God’s kingdom on earth. Let us all respond to our call to discipleship and feel a need to give, rather than to give only when there is a need.

     “Once one chooses to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, Stewardship is not an option.”

– Bishop John J. MsRaith, an original member of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Stewardship