November is often called Gratitude Month. November is a time of thanksgiving and of generous sharing.
In November 1992, the bishops of the United States published a pastoral letter, Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response. The purpose of this letter was to introduce Catholics to a new way of understanding the importance of gratitude, accountability, and generosity as expressions of Christian discipleship.
The stewardship pastoral was drafted by an ad hoc committee of bishops chaired by the late Seattle Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy. After several years of consultation and discussion, prompted by financial challenges faces many Catholic parishes and dioceses in the 1980s, the members of the ad hoc committee concluded that the Church’s financial health depends on the spiritual vitality (holiness) of its people. This led to the counterintuitive insight that if Church leaders place fundraising or money before the conversion of minds and hearts, they will not achieve their financial goals.
Unfortunately, when many Catholics, including some bishops and pastors, hear the word “stewardship,” they immediately think of money or fundraising. Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response takes a different approach. The definition proposed by the bishops calls attention to the spirituality of stewardship.
According to the pastoral letter, “A Christian steward isone who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them generously with others, and returns them to the Lord with increase.” These four characteristics or virtues flow from a basic understanding that the core of stewardship is the recognition that everything we have and everything we are, is a gift from God to be taken care of responsibly and generously shared. We are not owners. We are but trusted stewards. If we can apply this principle to everything we do in life, we will be giving a powerful witness to the practical importance of Christian stewardship on our daily lives.
The pastoral letter teaches that gratitude and generosity are contagious. If we say thank you to God and others frequently, the effect on us and others will become readily apparent. The same is true of generous giving, the more we do it, the more we like it, and the more it transforms our attitude from one of stinginess or greed to a mindset of grateful sharing.
Our western culture suffers from excessive isolation and individualism. Stewardship teaches us to share generously with others (as God has shared himself with us). The more we share, the less lonely we are and the more we experience ourselves as sisters and brothers in Christ.
Focusing on money rather than the spirituality of stewardship is by far the most common mistake Church leaders make. Money is important, but only AFTER we acknowledge stewardship as a way of giving back to God what belongs to him in the first place.
Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response argues that an attitude of gratitude, accountability, generosity, and the willingness to give back with increase is essential to accepting stewardship as a way of life. If these values are reflected positively in the mind of Catholics, inspired by their pastoral leaders, the parish and diocese will flourish. If these values are not reflected in the parish or diocesan community, it is unlikely that stewardship will take root there.
The pastoral letter’s description of a Christian steward is the key to understanding the spirituality of stewardship. Spiritual motivation should always be preferred to simple volunteerism or to the pragmatism of fundraising practice. As Church, we are not just “doing good.” Our mission is God-given, and our parishes and dioceses exist to change hearts and save souls.
Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B., used to say that our first priority is mission, but there can be no mission without money. Good stewardship does not shy away from talking about the Church’s need for money to carry out its mission, but it refuses to put the cart before the horse. We urge Catholics to be responsible stewards of all God’s gifts—spiritual and material. Then we invite, and challenge, everyone to share generously all their gifts.
The spirituality of stewardship encourages us to believe that if we have truly lived lives of gratitude, accountability, generosity, and the willingness to give back to the Lord with increase, our legacy will be one of good and faithful stewardship. We may not be wealthy, famous, or powerful, but all that we have, and all that we are, will give witness to the good and gracious God whose faithful stewards we have tried to be.
By Daniel Conway
