August 2020

Let’s be honest. If we are striving to live the stewardship way of life, it’s not going to be easy. Dying to self and living for Christ and others is tough. It’s the work of a lifetime. But in the end, it’s the only work that really matters and the only life that truly satisfies. 

Our Gospel passage, from Matthew, reflects this challenging reality. Jesus tells His disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” This sounds harsh. Why would anyone want to do this? 

Our Lord has the answer, of course. “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

It’s all about love. Jesus loved (and loves) us totally, giving us all of Himself on the Cross, in His Word, and in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. And so we must choose: love of self, or love of God and others — which is tough, but fulfilling and leads to the eternal reward of heaven. Jesus promises that He “will come with his angels in his Father’s glory and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”

Let us make the tough choice to lose our life for Christ’s sake in grateful response to His love. Honestly, what better life could there be?

— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants

In our Gospel passage, from Matthew, Jesus poses a question to the disciples:  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they offer varying responses. Then, Jesus gets personal with them. “But who do you say that I am?” Peter gets the answer right: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus is getting personal with us today. He poses the same question to each of us who call ourselves His stewards and modern-day disciples. But do our lives truly reflect this? If we really believe that Christ is the Son of God, sent to save us from our sins and lead us to Heaven, then we must say so, not just with words but with our actions. Do my ambitions and priorities in life say that Christ is my Savior and I am His disciple? Does my budget, my family life, my entertainment say so?  

The gifts and blessings God has given us — our time, our talents, our material possessions — are meant to be used in a manner that says "Christ is my Savior and I am His disciple." The most eloquent praise we can offer Him is a life lived in grateful response to His unfathomable love. This is the beauty and power of a stewardship way of life.

— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Our Gospel today, from Matthew, reminds us to trust in Him even when it seems He is not answering our prayers.

God wants to lead us to the joy of heaven to spend eternity with Him. For that, we must be strong in faith and live our lives as an act of love and gratitude to Him. In other words, we must allow Him to transform us into saints. This is what the stewardship way of life is meant to do. Sometimes, that will feel painful to us. Often, it will be challenging. 

Jesus certainly challenged the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel passage from Matthew. She called out to Him on behalf of her daughter, who was being tormented by a demon. What did Jesus do in reply to this mother’s desperate plea? Nothing. He “did not say a word in answer to her.” Undeterred, the woman continues to call out to Him, yet He still does not give her what she asks for. Instead, He continues to challenge her faith. 

And she rises to the challenge to such an impressive degree that Jesus exclaims, “O woman [a term of deep respect in that day], great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Imagine hearing those words proclaimed over us by God. Truly there could be no higher honor than hearing our Lord say that to us. 

So we must accept the difficulties that come with the stewardship way of life. Some days will be a true challenge to our trust in God. But those are the days when God is making saints of us. 

Let’s embrace the hard days during these difficult times. The deep joy that eventually comes, the eternal reward He promises, will be so worth it.

— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Stewardship spirituality invites us to surrender control of our lives to God in grateful recognition of the simple fact that all we have is a gift from Him. 

Today’s readings illustrate what amazing things can happen when we fully invite God to take charge of our lives by embracing the stewardship way of life.

When we take our eyes off God, we fail to see that all we have is a gift from Him. We lose trust in the Lord and we do not make our lives a grateful response to Him. 

Peter makes this mistake in our Gospel passage from Matthew. Jesus sends the disciples in a boat ahead of Him to the other side of the shore. Later that evening, Jesus casually strolls up to the boat, walking on the sea. He invites Peter to join Him. As Peter begins to walk on the water, he momentarily takes his eyes off Jesus to notice the strong wind surrounding them. With that, he sinks.

But what if Peter had not taken his eyes off Christ? What a grand adventure he could have experienced walking on the sea with Jesus! When we take our eyes off Christ, the many blessings He has given us, and the loving way He treats us, we sink, too. 

When we embrace the stewardship way of life — letting go of a tight hold over our money, time and talents — our lives become a grand adventure, rooted firmly and gratefully in the God Who always cares for us.

— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Today’s readings should inspire the Christian steward with deepened gratitude to our God, Who loves us with such fierce and tender love. We must make an intentional response every day to return love for Love.

In our Second Reading, from Romans, St. Paul reminds us that nothing and nobody can keep God from loving us. No anguish, distress, persecution, famine… and we might add pandemic, economic loss, relationship strife — nothing — can keep our God from His faithful love for us. God has got us in the palm of His hand. 

And yet, this reassurance is only the beginning of God’s gifts to us. Our Gospel passage from Matthew recounts the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. This of course, is a foreshadowing of the miraculous gift the Eucharist, which feeds us not with bread but with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. 

Let’s look at the opening verses of this passage, for they reveal a little of the tender heart of Jesus for all of us. “His heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.” What generous and compassionate love He shows.

But even that is not enough for our Lord. He remains with them, ministering to and teaching them well into the evening. The disciples suggest that Jesus should send them away so that they could buy some food. But Jesus will not hear of it. He insists that the disciples feed them right then and there. And then, He provides the miraculous abundance of food out of the few loaves and fishes the disciples could round up.

What a privilege for those disciples to participate in Christ’s miraculous plan for His people. This privilege is ours, too, as Christian stewards. Let us make a grateful response to such amazing love.

— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants