This last week of reviewing the USCCB Letter, Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response covers Part V. The Christian Steward. This chapter presents to us the life and characteristics of a Christian Steward. Stewardship is not easy, it is hard to live as Christ calls us to do. However, with much trust and faith in the Lord, we find that as we pray more, serve more, and give more, we are given much in return- a joy-filled heart. I find one of the best characteristics of a vibrant church is the stewards in the pews. At Cathedral, during my first few months here, I am blessed to be a witness to the amazing stewards in our pews. From the women in the CCCW, to the men that are the Knights, to the terrific staff at the Parish Offices and the School, it is easy to find people who are choosing to live the stewardship way of life, daily.
Christian stewards are conscientious and faithful. After all, the first requirement of a steward is to be “found trustworthy” (1 Cor 4:2). In the present case, moreover, stewardship is a uniquely solemn trust. If Christians understand it and strive to live it to the full, they grasp the fact that they are no less than “God’s co-workers” (1 Cor 3:9), with their own particular share in his creative, redemptive, and sanctifying work…Christian stewards are generous out of love as well as duty. They dare not fail in charity and what it entails, and the New Testament is filled with warnings to those who might be tempted to substitute some counterfeit for authentic love. For example: “If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?” (1 Jn 3:17)…The life of a Christian steward, lived in imitation of the life of Christ, is challenging, even difficult in many ways; but both here and hereafter it is charged with intense joy. Like Paul, the good steward is able to say, “I am filled with encouragement, I am overflowing with joy all the more because of all our affliction” (2 Cor 7:4). Women and men who seek to live in this way learn that “all things work for good for those who love God” (Rom 8:28). It is part of their personal experience that God is “rich in mercy [and] we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.” (Eph 2:4, 10)