Many of us who have participated as a member of a team have heard the saying that there is no "I" in team. This is a long used motivational saying to suggest that we must work together with others in an effective way if we are to succeed in reaching our goals. Those of us who have been baptized into our Catholic faith are all a team, and each of us is needed to contribute to the ministry and mission of our faith.

Now, we might have the attitude that we aren’t competitive or don’t want to compete, and that these types of sayings are meant for sports teams, but not for our religion. I will be the first to admit that we often put way too much emphasis on winning when it comes to sports, that the win-at-all-cost attitude is not acceptable. However, that is not what I am saying. Rather, I would suggest that in the context of this message, being a member of the team is working together with those who share our faith to achieve a closer spiritual relationship with God. It is in living our lives as Jesus did, and being the Christian stewards that we are called to be.

Have we ever thought of ourselves as members of a team when we consider our Catholic faith? Are we active participants in our parish or have we decided to go at it alone with our faith? This message of stewardship that we have been talking about for a number of years is a lifelong commitment to live our lives as His disciples here on Earth, sharing those God- given talents with others so that all of us can grow closer to our Savior. Each of us, acting on our own, can have a close relationship with Jesus, but I would suggest that we can have an even stronger relationship with God when we think about this relationship in the context of us helping others as they are also helping us in this journey.

The idea of practice can also be applied to our stewardship journey. Just as the team will spend time practicing together, the coach will also suggest that we will also need to spend time on our own developing our skills. Our stewardship journey, if taken seriously, will challenge us to first discern what talents God has blessed us with. It will ask that we devote the necessary time to trying to understand how God has called us to steward these gifts through prayer and dialogue with Him on a regular basis. Living as Christian stewards will also challenge us to be active members of the team that we call our parish, diocese, or school. We must consider sharing the gifts of our time, our talents, and our treasure to accomplish the parish mission.

As we approach this Lenten season, we should take this time to reflect on Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for our sinfulness when He died on the cross. Is it not possible during this time of reflection that we might be able to recommit ourselves to our relationship with God, both personally, and with others who share our faith? Perhaps participating in a small faith sharing group is a possibility. Perhaps sharing a few hours of our time each week to volunteer for a charity would interest you. It is at this time that we can each evaluate how we have been blessed by our merciful God and compare our commitment for our own salvation and that of others with what Jesus has done for us. I believe we will all find it possible that we can spend a little more time in prayer, a little more of our talents in service to God, and the first fruits of our treasure to fund these important ministry needs. This sharing will give us spiritual health and will enable us to truly grow in our relationship with God.

May we each be blessed with the heart to hear the message during this season and may we have the courage to respond favorably to this message. May we practice this message of stewardship as a way of life each day in our individual lives and may we also join with the other members of our faith-filled team in accomplishing God’s will for everyone.