August 2020

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