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The Spirituality of Stewardship

Leigh Emrick
Coordinator of Stewardship and Communication, Bulletin Editor

(480) 899-1990 ext. 104

Stewardship is living out a commitment to be Christ-centered rather than self-centered. This conversion is the result of our total self being focused on God as the Creator and giver of all good gifts. Profound gratitude, justice and love become the fundamental motives for giving back to God.

Christian stewardship can be identified by several meaningful characteristics, according to Stewardship, a national newsletter:

• Christian stewardship provides spirituality that a lay person can take home from Church, exercise at work, and express through personal involvement in both the community and the Church.
• Christian stewardship successfully bridges the material world around us and the world of the Spirit within us.
• Stewardship gives joy! Those who voluntarily give their time and abilities for work in the parish will always experience joy if they give them for Christ. They are not, however, guaranteed freedom from frustration.
• Stewardship is not job-oriented or project-minded. It is a way of life for a lifetime.
• Christian stewardship takes a positive view of money. It sees money not only as a medium of exchange but as a symbol of the person who has it. We reveal something of who we are by the way we acquire it, use it, and share it.
• Christian stewardship helps us to become aware that God is the ultimate giver of the gifts we have. Our gift to God should be from the top — not from what may be left over.
• Stewardship teaches Christians to be concerned about where and how to share their parish financial overflow. Stewardship is not giving just to meet the needs of the budget.
• Jesus Christ is God's greatest gift to us. Stewardship tells us to share a portion of our time, talent and treasure so that the Gift, Jesus Christ, may be given to those who do not know Him.