Stewardship

‘The Lord is to be your God and you are to walk in His ways and hearken to His voice.’

When you think of Catholic stewardship, does your mind go to collection envelopes and fundraising appeals?  For most people, that is what happens.  And while that is certainly part of what it means, stewardship goes far beyond financial contributions.

The US Catholic bishops wrote that stewardship is a call to receive God’s gifts gratefully, to cultivate them responsibly, then share them lovingly with others, and finally to return them with increase to God.

We see examples of such stewardship in the church through people like St. Katharine Drexel whom we honor today.  Katharine was born into a prominent family in Philadelphia in 1858.  She took an avid interest in both the black and native Americans.  She began by donating money from her estate, but soon saw that much more was needed.  As a result, she founded a religious order for women, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament whose mission was to see to the needs of the black and native Americans.  She went on to found 63 schools for them in the south and the west, as well as Xavier University in Mississippi, and donated over $20 million in her lifetime.

May our continued journey through this holy season of Lent, through the intercession of St. Katharine Drexel, strengthen us to seek ways to use the gifts and talents the Lord has given to us for His greater honor and glory, and for the good of all those in the world around us.  For it will only be in this way that we can help build the Father’s Kingdom of true and lasting peace.