Today’s readings call us to tackle the challenging issues of fear and trust — two concepts that must be confronted and dealt with by all of us who wish to live the stewardship way of life.
 
The Lord knows that facing down our fears and choosing to trust Him with all areas of our lives is an ongoing challenge for us. He is generous with reassurances to us throughout the Scriptures. Today’s Gospel passage from Matthew is a case in point. In the span of eight verses, Jesus addresses the topic of fear four times.

• “Fear no one.”
• “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”
• “Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body.”
• “So do not be afraid.”

And the reassurance continues. “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted.” Notice that Jesus says, “your Father” in describing God’s intimate knowledge and tender care for each one of us. He is truly “Abba,” our Dad, Who knows us inside and out.
 
With that, let us all breathe a huge sigh of relief. All is well. Our Father knows us through and through, sent His Son to save us, and will always take care of us. 
 
Let’s stop wasting any more time with fear. Instead, let’s put all our energy, all our time, our talents, and our treasure into trusting this great and loving God, using all that we are and all that He has given us to bring Him glory.

The readings for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time provide us with profound insights into the essential aspects of living the stewardship way of life on our Christian journey.
 
In the first reading from Exodus, we witness the encounter between God and His chosen people at Mount Sinai. The Lord, through Moses, reminds the Israelites of His faithfulness and the covenant He has established with them. This reminds us of our vocation as stewards and disciples. They invite us to embrace the call to stewardship by recognizing our responsibility to care for God's creation and to generously share our gifts with others. 
 
In our second reading from Romans, St. Paul beautifully articulates the depths of God's love for humanity. He reminds us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, reconciling us with God and offering us the gift of salvation. As stewards, we are called to gratefully recognize God's abundant love and respond by using our gifts and resources to build His kingdom. In our stewardship and discipleship, we discover the joy of participating in God's redemptive work, bringing hope and healing to a broken world.
 
The Gospel reading from Matthew recounts how Jesus is moved with compassion as He sees the crowds who are like sheep without a shepherd. He commissions His disciples, empowering them to continue His mission of healing and preaching the Kingdom of God. Like the Good Shepherd, we are called to have hearts filled with empathy and concern for those who are lost, suffering, or in need. Stewardship challenges us to extend a helping hand, offer comfort, and meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
By living a life of stewardship and discipleship, we are challenged to move beyond our comfort zones, embracing the call to serve and witness to the transformative power of Christ's love. This requires a willingness to step out in faith, be empowered by the Holy Spirit, and to be instruments of God's grace and healing.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. Our readings are focused on the gifts of the Word of God and the Eucharist. This feast has deep significance to those of us living the stewardship way of life. 
 
Why? As stewards, we recognize that all that we are and all that we have been given are gifts from God. We are called to treasure these gifts and use them for God’s glory. Our Solemnity today and the readings for this week invite us to a deeper gratitude and better stewardship of the two sublime gifts of God’s Word and the Eucharist.
 
In our first reading from Deuteronomy, Our Heavenly Father (such a good teacher) reminds us that just as we experience physical hunger from lack of food, we become spiritually malnourished through a lack of feeding on the Word of God. It is that important.
 
And, just as the Word of God is vital to our spiritual nourishment, so, too, is the nourishment of the Eucharist. Jesus could not make this any clearer to us: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” 
 
Without the Eucharist, we die spiritually. But through the Eucharist, we experience a taste of heaven right now — “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”
 
As Christian stewards, we must recognize that in the gifts of the Word of God and the Eucharist, we have everything we need to sustain us in this world and guide us to heaven. Let us resolve to steward these precious gifts well with all our hearts, always.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that the Holy Trinity is the “central mystery of the Christian faith” (261). The concept of the Triune God — Three Persons in one God — is truly a mystery, almost too lofty for us ordinary people to even begin to grasp. Can the truth of the Holy Trinity teach us anything as everyday Christian stewards? Actually, yes!
 
St. John Paul II described the Holy Trinity as a “Divine Family,” a community of Persons Who give themselves completely to each other and Who wishes to share Itself, Its life, with us. These concepts are at the very heart of the stewardship way of life. As stewards, we too, are called to share ourselves and our lives with others.
 
Our Gospel passage from John reminds us that the stewardship way of life is nothing more and nothing less than the imitation of our Most Holy Trinity. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes might not perish but might have eternal life.” He gave Himself, in the person of His Son, for the love of us. We must love this God back now by giving ourselves, our lives, to Him. 
 
Amazingly, the more we give of ourselves to God in love, the more we will find the “grace of the Lord, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit within us.” The God of the universe — this mysterious, Triune God — invites us to an ever-deepening intimacy with Him when we make our lives a loving gift to Him and to others through the stewardship way of life.