A stewardship reflection
Dear brothers and sisters,
Who are we as disciples of Jesus Christ? How is stewardship part of the life of the disciple? How do we lead others toward this spiritual way of life? These are the questions that stewardship leaders constantly ask themselves. There is no one answer to these essential questions, of course, and no singular way of carrying out the role we have as pastoral leaders who are dedicated to forming people as stewards. Yet, we know that this way of life is filled with meaning and purpose, and we sense the impact it may have on others in our community. “Mature disciples make a conscious, firm decision, carried out in action, to be followers of Jesus Christ no matter the cost to themselves…Stewardship is an expression of discipleship, with the power to change how we understand and live out our lives.” (Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response, Introduction)
How do we lead people to such living discipleship? In his pastoral letter, The Joy of the Gospel, our late pontiff, Pope Francis pointed to the importance of an encounter with Christ as the beginning point:
Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being (The Joy of the Gospel, 8).
We rely on the presence of the Holy Spirit to enflame our hearts and open our minds as the beginning point for this encounter with God’s love. As members of Christ’s Body, we also recognize the responsibility we have to witness to the power of faith and the impact of living as disciples in our lives. This is one of the great gifts of stewardship in the life of the Church: as we “let God take us beyond ourselves,” we witness to the transforming power of stewardship as “an expression of discipleship.” We evangelize. A reflection question for stewardship leaders: How do you witness to the impact of living as a disciple who embraces stewardship as a way of life?
