FIFTEENTH  SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

JULY 13, 2008

Mass Schedule:

    What is a good steward? When the American bishops wrote their 1992 pastoral letter on stewardship, they defined a good steward as one who embodied four specific qualities:

1.Grateful:thanking God daily for the blessings he or she has received. A good steward never stops saying “thank you.”

2.Responsible:with the blessings that God has bestowed; not only using them prudently but also making sure that they do not wither away. That is the way with some gifts, isn’t it? A musician needs to take lessons and practice and work with the gift of music or it will atrophy and fade away. It is that way with every gift, especially the gift of faith. Parents are good stewards with they care for, protect and nurture their children’s natural aptitude for faith, beginning in the tender years of early childhood.

3.Sharing: A good steward knows that it is better to give than to receive, for in giving, we receive far more than we could ever imagine.

4.Accountable:Remember the parable of the stewards to whom the master had entrusted the silver pieces? They had to render an account of their stewardship. One day you and I will have to stand in accountability before the judgment seat of God. And God will ask: “What do you do with all the time you had? What did you do with all the gifts that I gave you? What did you do with your life?

    Hopefully, we will be able to say; “Lord, I tried to thank you every day. I tried to be responsible with those gifts. And I tried to share them with others.” Please God, may He respond: “Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of you master.”

 Time, Talent and Treasure. As we recognize the presence of God in our lives, we set out to live the spirituality of stewardship in terms of time, talent and treasure.

    Stewardship of Time. Some people say “time is money,” but that’s not quite right. Time is much more valuable than money! We’ve all had the experience of wasting money on poor purchases or bad decisions. We recover from that, but not so with time. Time once spent can never be recovered. Every day, every hour, is precious. We make sure that we take care of the things that matter. Stewardship of time requires us to look at our lives, 24 hours each day, as an opportunity to serve the Lord and build up His Kingdom.

    Stewardship of Talent. We can’t think of stewardship of talent only in terms of what we can do to help out around the parish. Talent is the passion that people have for doing what is good. Think of people that you know who are passionate about the cause of the poor, who are passionate about pro-life issues. In bringing their passion to all that they do, they make a difference. That’s great stewardship of talent.

    Stewardship of Treasure. Money is more personal than probably anything else in our lives. We don’t speak in public about how much money we have in the bank or what our house is worth. It’s just too personal.

    Jesus knows this.About half of the parables of Jesus have to do with money or with material possessions. Remember the lost coin, the widow’s mite, the buried treasure in the field and so on.

    Jesus keeps talking about money because he knows how personal it is. He knows that sometimes money is too important and can actually keep us from the fullness of life with him. Remember the rich young man who went to see Jesus? That young man knew that in order to have eternal life, he had to keep the commandments, but then he asked Jesus: “What more must I do?” Jesus looked at him with love and said, “sell what you have and give it to the poor… and come follow me. ”We are told that young man went away sad because he had so many possessions.” In going away from Jesus that day, the young man missed our on the opportunity of a lifetime – the invitation to follow the Master – all because he had so much “stuff.”

    Stewardship of treasure is not about the need of the parish, but of your need to give. No matter what windfall a parish might experience – striking oil in the parking lot (actually happened in one parish in Oklahoma), coming upon a winning lottery ticket, inheriting a sizeable bequest – the parish must still emphasize stewardship of treasure. Why? Because stewardship of treasure is not about giving to a need, it is about the need to give, a need to make sure that material possessions do not dominate our lives. 

Have a great summer!

Fr. Rick: email: rteberle@tc3net.com   

Fr. Eberle’s cell phone for emergencies: 517-260-1120

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