Holy Spirit Stewardship Pledge

Jesus came to preach the Good News about God’s amazing plan to redeem us and call us His own. Stewardship is an essential part of the Gospel message because when it is embraced it produces within us joy and freedom. A simple way to understand stewardship is to reflect upon the word steward. Jesus associates us the disciple with being a steward who is someone who takes care of their master’s belongings. Stewardship is seeing ourselves then as a steward upon whom God has bestowed time, treasure, and talents. It's an attitude shift that acknowledges that God is God and everything we have is from Him and ultimately belongs to Him.

The parable of the workers in the vineyard (Luke 20:9-18) describes well the attitude we often have of feeling we possess ‘our’ time and money. The workers in the parable begin to think that they own the vineyard and can do whatever they please. They even despise the vineyard owner for wanting to get some of the produce. Stewardship is a rejection of this attitude and an embracing of reality that God is the Lord of our lives. At first, confronting possessiveness is difficult, and can feel like a burden that doesn’t bring happiness. Embracing stewardship is an act of conversion that is difficult but leads to freedom and joy. Like all conversion then, the love of God must initiate and propel it. Gratitude leads the way and recognizing the goodness of God in our lives draws us to our Lord who is Love Himself.

As the love of God flashes in our hearts, we are able to embrace the call of stewardship.  As the Good News is proclaimed to us, this can be as radical as St. Matthew leaving his post or a friend entering a convent. For most of us though, it will be simply embracing the biblical practice of tithing. Tithing was introduced by God from the very beginning with Abraham giving a tenth of his possessions to the mysterious priest Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-20). This practice of giving back a percentage of what one has is very much like a steward of a farm for instance would give a portion of the crop each year to the owner. The tithe teaches the disciple that everything he/she has ultimately is God’s and thus forms within us a disposition of gratitude, trust, and reliance on God. This brings about a great freedom and joy in our lives as we recognize God is in charge.

Our parish like many others across our nation is moving towards embracing stewardship as a way of life. The key component of a Stewardship parish is the annual member commitment to live out stewardship. Jesus is the first to recognize that responding to the Good News is an immense act of trust as he speaks about it as picking up one’s cross and following Him.  The commitment to living stewardship by giving 10% (tithing) one’s treasure and one’s awake time is by all means a sacrificial response but the joy, peace, and heavenly reward of putting God first is well worth it.