Stewardship simply stated is an expression of gratitude to God. It reminds us that we are the administrators, and not the owners, of our assets. It fills a need deep within us to worship God and to thank Him for the abundant blessings He has showered upon us.
Christian stewardship can be identified by several meaningful characteristics; the most important is that it strengthens our relationship with God. It is a way of life, not a program that has a beginning and an ending, and it leads us to share a portion of our time, talent, and treasure so that the Good News of Jesus Christ may be shared with those who do not know Him.
Stewardship of Time, Talent & Treasure
Many times in scripture we are reminded to be generous with our time, talent and treasure. We are called, to take care of others, to share what we have, to return a portion of our gifts and harvest to God. We are reminded always to do this with purity of intention and according to our means.
Guided by prayer, during these Stewardship renewal efforts at STHY, I am encouraging each household of the parish to plan how the stewardship of time and talent will be a part of your lifestyle and how the stewardship of treasure will be a part of your life. This plan is then is called to be lived throughout the year in a regular, consistent manner.
Stewardship of Time
Stewardship of time involves the realization that none of us "owns" 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, and to pray is vital in the stewardship of our physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual lives. In a busy society like ours, time is one of the most precious possessions we have. How we spend our time is perhaps the clearest indication of our progress in a life of Christian discipleship.
Stewardship of Talent
There are many talents that we possess. Stewardship of talent calls us to search out those talents, nurture them, and help them to grow, and then share them with other human beings. Our first and greatest commandment is "To love our God with our whole heart, our whole soul and our whole mind." We do that by using God given talents for the benefit of others, and doing that brings us directly to our second greatest commandment, "To love our neighbor, as we love ourselves."
Stewardship of Treasure
Money and all of the things that we possess our treasure are gifts from God that we are asked to care for and generously share for our own benefit and the good of others. It is important for us to share our money and all of our material possessions for two reasons: first, because all the good things that God has made including money are meant to be shared, and second, because each of us has a need to give.
Stewardship of treasure is 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. Frequently, in discussions of stewardship, reference will be made to the "Biblical Tithe" giving 10% of income. Tithing consists of 5% to your Parish Church, and 2% to Archdiocesan charities and 3% to the charities and other causes of your choice. As disciples of Jesus, each of us has a responsibility to support the Church and to contribute generously to the building up of the Body of Christ.
One of the goals of this year’s Stewardship renewal efforts is to increase the number of people that are contributing to the Church to Faith Direct, our electronic giving platform. The Church spends close to $10,000 a year to print and mail our parish offertory envelopes. The easiest way for us to significantly reduce this expense is to sign up as many people to Faith Direct. Enrollment forms are available in the Narthex, Church office or you can visit Faith Direct’s secure website at www.faithdirect.net to enroll on line. Our parish code is TX526. As always, know that your generosity is truly a gift from God.
As we move forward with our 2016-2017 Stewardship Renewal efforts here at STHY, let’s say “Amen!” to all the blessings that we have received from our God and see ‘Faith, Family and Future in Action’. If you signed up to serve at one of our parish ministries this past weekend, please follow-up and get involved.