We must truly recognize that everything belongs to God. EVERYTHING that we have…our time, our talents, and our treasures… every blessing is a gift from God. EVERYTHING we have is on loan to us from God and we are responsible for caring for it, for being good stewards of the gifts God has given us. Today, we are stewardship Sunday here at our parish. It is an important and significant event in our parish life. It is one that will change the lives of each of us and which will change the life of our parish. Once a year, it is important to stop and reflect on the many blessings God has given us and to prayerful reflect on our stewardship of those gifts. Today, I invite each of us to reflect on our stewardship of our time, talent and treasure. First, we begin with our TIME. God gives me the gift of life and the gift of time. How do I use my time to give back to him? Jesus desires an intimate relationship with us, but WE have to make the time for it in our lives. Do I make it a priority, do I have a place in my schedule set aside, to
spend time with Jesus at Sunday mass? Next we reflect on our TALENTS: All that I am is a gift from God…my intellect, my physical health, my ability to have relationships with others, only exist through God’s handiwork in me. How do I use what I have to build up his kingdom? Do I make it a point to intentionally use some use of my talents for the benefit of others? Do I volunteer to help others? Finally, we look to our TREASURE. All of our material and financial resources are blessings from God. While our worldly blessings and success are the result of our hard work and efforts, ultimately it is a gift from God. Without life, without our talents, without health, without God, we would have nothing. God is the ultimate source of all of our blessings. We are called to use our financial resources to help others. There is a temptation to give only from our excess…from what is left over, but we are called to give back to God first…to make it a priority. God cannot be outdone in generosity. MORE than I give, always comes back in one way or another. I give to be grateful, but find that blessings always come in unexpected ways. As the disciples learned, every good blessings comes from God. I invite you this week to spend sometime praying and reflecting on where God is inviting you to spend more time with him to get to know him better, to put yourself at the service of the church and others, to give more of your treasure to be used in service of the gospel mission.
