Stewardship – Living a Balanced Life

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THANK YOU FOR TURNING IN YOUR STEWARDSHIP COMMITMENT CARDS! 

Completion and return of your Stewardship Cards shows you are an active, participating member of St. Margaret Mary. Thank you for your grateful and generous giving back to God. You are helping to bring about the kingdom of Jesus Christ!

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Q. What is Stewardship?

A. Stewardship is an expression of our gratitude for all of God’s gifts. Stewardship embodies our commitment to follow the Lord as active participants in our Catholic community. To become stewards in the Church, each of us should strive to share three valuable gifts with others. These gifts are time, talent and treasure.

Q. Why is stewardship important?

A. Stewardship is a daily expression of our discipleship. By giving of ourselves, we strengthen our faith, our parish, and our community. With stewardship as a way of life, striving to emulate Jesus, we “love our neighbor” and grow closer to the Lord. We can bring a new “balance” in our lives, lives of peace and joy centered in God.

Q. How do I get started in our stewardship program?

A. Giving of our time, talent and treasure is not always easy. Stewardship may require us to establish new priorities for our daily lives. Embracing stewardship can be a gradual growth process. Just as an individual who wants to run a marathon must train for months or years to achieve his goal, successful stewardship begins with a personal commitment to improve our spiritual lives.

Q. How can I contribute my time and talent?

A. There are dozens of opportunities within our Catholic community to give of your time and talent. From serving on the Parish Council to coaching youth athletic teams, you can find a place to give of yourself. Identify an outlet that allows you to express your enthusiasm. Find an area where you can have fun while serving those around you.

Q. That leaves treasure, how much do I need to contribute to be a successful steward?

A. As a goal, the Parish asks we each give five percent of our annual income to the church and devote five percent to special appeals and other charities. Admittedly, achieving this goal will require many of us to restructure our household budgets. Giving ten percent of your income is a goal. Don’t let the goal become an obstacle to getting started. Establish a percentage of your income that you can afford today and work towards continual improvement.
 

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one anther
as good stewards of God’s varied grace (1Pt 4:10).

Prepared by St Margaret Mary’s Stewardship Committee

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Do you find the Church ‘demanding’?

by Joan Fell Barnell, Director of Stewardship

             Demands. So many demands made on us every day. And now the Church is asking for more at this stewardship renewal time of year. Some of the school parents feel they are jumping through hoops for their kids to be in school here. Some of the other folks feel like we have disturbed their peace—sort of like, “Don’t bother me, I have enough problems in my life without the Church wanting something from me.”

             A good friend said to me: We can’t demand anything from our parishioners. They need to give from the heart, because they want to. They need to give cheerfully. They need to give because they love God.

             “Mom, can you look over my English paper?… We’re out of milk—can you pick some up on the way home?… Honey, I need a hug… A friend is sick, I need to send her a card… A nephew is having a birthday—can we come to the party to make him feel special?… A solicitation comes in the mail for hurricane disaster relief… I need to walk next door and welcome the new neighbor… Time to pay the bills—I need to do that… My body is out of shape, I need to exercise to stay healthy… Everyone’s hungry—time to fix dinner… He had a bad day at work—I’d better sit down and listen… Look how long the grass is…”                       

             We are constantly responding to needs and to expectations and to requests. Practical thoughts: I’d rather be the giver than the receiver when it comes to sickness or disaster relief… When I was pregnant with my second child I was so afraid I wouldn’t have enough love for her, but I did, and I had enough for two more children after that. Sometimes I even have enough for my husband… The other day when someone asked me for money for flowers for a friend, I was thankful that they were “on top of it” to do something nice that would make a difference to that person in need.

             The Church can seem to be full of needs, expectations, and requests. They ask us to follow the Ten Commandments. To come to Church on Sunday. To be kind to others. To give money. To be like Jesus…

            Body of Christ. Thy kingdom come. Die to self. Love others. Thy will be done. Forgive. Transform. Relate. Pray. Give. Follow Me.

Do you find this demanding or freeing?

             What do YOU need? Where do you find meaning? What makes you  thankful? What gives you peace?  What gives you joy?

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As members of the Church, Jesus calls us to be Disciples.

This has astonishing implications: 

• Mature disciples make a conscious decision to follow Jesus, no matter what the cost.
• Christian disciples experience conversion — life-shaping changes of mind and heart — and commit their very selves to the Lord.
• Jesus’ disciples and Christian stewards recognize God as the origin of life, giver of freedom, and source of all things. We are grateful for the gifts we have received and are eager to use them to show our love for God and for one another.
• Jesus calls us, as his disciples, to a new way of life — the Christian way of life — of which stewardship is part.
• But Jesus does not call us as nameless people in a faceless crowd. He calls us individually, by name. Each one of us — clergy, religious, lay person; married, single; adult, child — has a personal vocation. God intends each one of us to play a unique role in carrying out the divine plan.
• This mission, then, is to understand our role — our vocation — and to respond generously to this call from God. Christ calls each of us to be stewards of our personal vocations, which we receive from God.
• We must ask ourselves:  Do we…wish to be disciples of Jesus Christ and Christian stewards of our world and our Church?

Excerpts from the U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on Stewardship