Stewardship -- what it means to me

When I came to work for the diocese, I had very little understanding of stewardship – what it means or what it is. However, over the past 14 years, stewardship has become an important part of my life. My understanding of stewardship has grown, but is by no means complete, and I expect that I will always be learning stewardship lessons.

Initially, stewardship to me was a concept, perhaps even a program focusing on money and fund raising. Today, I understand that God has entrusted each of us with certain gifts, and we have a responsibility to steward those gifts wisely. I understand now that stewardship provides spirituality in my daily life, and involves sharing with others the gifts God has entrusted me with. Stewardship to me is not about giving because others have a need, but rather giving because I need to give to others in gratitude for what God has given me.

Several years ago after graduating from college, I was involved in two civic organizations, and many of our activities involved projects in the city parks and at the parish. I had the time and enjoyed working with others on projects that were needed in the community. I was practicing stewardship of my time and talents, but didn’t attach stewardship to my actions.

However, I did little or nothing in the way of treasure, justifying my involvement of time and talents as a substitute for giving money to the church and other worthwhile organizations. After all, I had not graduated long ago, had other expenses, and believed that I was giving plenty of my time. I didn’t realize then that I was blessed with treasure too, and that stewardship is not about substituting time for treasure, or talents for time, or treasure for talents. People have on more than one occasion described this substitution and have justified it as I once did. However, I now understand that each of these gifts is important and that God has called us to share each of these gifts, not just some of these gifts.

Stewardship to me today is a conscious decision that involves intentional, planned and proportionate giving of my time, talent, and treasure. A person can make a deliberate decision to steward a portion of one’s time, talent and treasure in a particular way, which is described as intentional. One can plan, perhaps at the beginning of the school year or the calendar year, to be involved in a certain activity or give a certain weekly donation to the church, or to attend daily mass or perpetual adoration on a regular basis. Finally, when engaging in this planning, a person can decide to give a certain percentage of one’s time, or one’s income, or one’s talents to the church and other charities. That decision is proportionate.

As I have learned about stewardship, I have attempted to make planned, intentional, and proportionate decisions regarding my time, talents, and treasure. I have made progress, I believe, in "stewarding" God’s gifts in my life, but know that I cannot stop at this point, but must grow in my understanding of stewardship.

Stewardship to me is more than just my parish, but also involves my family, the community, and others. Stewardship is not always easy, and it takes sacrifice, but the feeling of accomplishment in practicing stewardship is worth the struggle.

What does stewardship mean to you? Where are you at on the path to living stewardship as a way of life? Won’t you give stewardship a try?