Making Stewardship A Way of Life

Is this final episode of the series, Father Andrew explains the connection between stewardship and evangelization, Both of these support the core Catholic directives to 1) know your faith; 2) live your faith; and 3) share your faith. As committed parishioners come to know their faith better, a commitment to stewardship enables them to live their faith. Then, in living their faith, they become disciples to others in sharing their faith. That outcome is evangelization. Finally, Father Andrew an...

Why do organizations building a stewardship spirituality ask us to make a commitment to God? As Father Andrew explains in this episode, making a commitment moves us from merely intending to embrace stewardship to owning our stewardship. We evolve from being simple helpers to active ministers. We anticipate needs and lean forward to serve. Our commitment becomes the foundation of our character. And how can this change a faith community? Father Andrew has seen Catholic parishes where just...

How is stewardship inspired by the Bible? Father Andrew quotes several passages from the Bible that demonstrate that the concept of stewardship and its core theme of thanksgiving are deeply embedded in scripture. He references Psalm 50:14, Psalms 106:1 and 107:1, Psalm 118:4, and Sirach 51. He explains how our stewardship gifts, including money and time, become "holy" when they are precious and worthy and given to support the work of God. And he answers the question of how fixed assets can be...

Are we obligated to give to others simply because they have needs? In this episode, Father Andrew explains that, in a well-formed spirituality of stewardship, Christians have have a need to give which will drive their giving. He points out that giving based on others' needs can leave us with feelings of guilt, not satisfaction. Instead, if we have embraced the stewardship values of identity, trust, gratitude, and love, we will find in ourselves a need to give, and our giving will then be fulf...

How do we trust that God will give us what we really need? In this episode, Father Andrew examines the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, where we ask God to give us, every day, our daily bread. He explains how this "bread" we ask for is in fact all the sustenance we need, including the Holy Eucharist. He explains how we participate in God's plan to give everyone their daily bread when we give our tithes, and those tithes become the daily bread of others. And he responds to this freq...

What it the quality of the gifts we should give to God? In this episode, Father Andrew explains how our gifts should be "holy." That means we set aside the first 10% of what we have received and give it to God honestly and charitably. And our gifts should be "precious." Thus they should be the best of what we have to offer. This is in thanksgiving for what God has done for us. Father Andrew notes that tithing is modeled in the Bible. 11 of the 12 tribes of Israel inherited land. The 12th trib...

How does time apply to stewardship? In this episode, Father Andrew explores our understanding of time and why it is important to be in the "present moment" when we pray. He points out why "finding time" for God usually fails, and why instead we need to proactively "make time" to engage with God in service and prayer. He highlights how the Benedictine concept of "in all things God be glorified" can inspire us to incorporate prayer into nearly all of our daily lives. And he explains how periodi...

As humans, we are blessed by God. But we also experience suffering. Can anything virtuous come from our suffering? In this episode, Father Andrew explores how offering the suffering that we experience as a gift to God can be a more valuable form of stewardship that offering tangible gifts to God's community. Christians see challenges and difficulties as an opportunity to bring good out of evil. When we are dealing with adversity, we have a heightened opportunity to expand our stewardship by c...

Are we "possessed" by our possessions? If so, we may be driven to own and acquire even more, which can separate us from God. In this episode, Father Andrew explains how practicing "evangelical poverty" can help us let go of being "owned" by our material things and trust God to provide the essentials we need. Evangelical poverty helps us adopt a mindset of being "poor in spirit," which, as Jesus said, leads to inheriting the "kingdom of heaven." Furthermore, even the poor and the poor in spiri...

In this episode, Father Andrew introduces three more areas that are important elements of stewardship: faith, vocations, and the earth. Faith is a treasure that has been handed down to us; we need to grow our own faith and transmit it to the next generation. Clergy members are essential to the ability of the church to serve its faithful; one element of stewardship is encouraging those who live the virtues we would expect from God's servants to consider a commitment to religious service. As we...