Aguinaldo 2022 Day 4

Stewardship as a Spirituality

WORD

Judges 13:2-7, 24-25A

Psalm 71:3-4A, 5-6AB, 16-17

Luke 1:5-25

“The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up and the LORD blessed him; the Spirit of the LORD stirred him.”

(From the First Reading)

“For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!”

(From the Responsorial Psalm)

“Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. “

(From the Gospel)

OBSERVE

1. Elizabeth and Zechariah were considered as “righteous” in the Gospel. They followed the commandments of the Lord.

Another righteous person was Samson who became a judge of Israel, he was a Nazarene who followed ascetism as indicated in the Pentateuch.

2. Zechariah as a priest and Samson as a judge followed a certain way of life as part of who they are. Through their distinct way of life, they are testifying to their faith in the Lord.

Stewardship is also a way of testifying to the Lord. It is not just merely for the sake of transparency or good financial practice, rather stewardship is following a command to take care of God’s creation and to flourish this by the works of our hands. It is to live out a command from the Lord.

4. However, stewardship would only make sense in the context of faith. Without this, it would be reduced to just another “best practice” on how to become responsible custodian of goods.

Yet, when we accept it as a way of life and as following the will of God, then it becomes a particular kind of spirituality.

5. Indeed, being a priest or a baptized follower of Jesus calls us to more than stewardship.

Stewardship is not constitutive of who a Christian or an ordained minister is, but it is a way of life that is apt in today’s world when there are so many doubts and suspicions as to how the material goods of the Church are being used. It is a spirituality that responds to the call of the times.

6. “Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are, is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts.

God reveals His perfect and infinite love for us most visibly in His Son, Jesus Christ. A steward makes God's love visible by imitating Jesus.”

RESPOND

Heavenly Father you have chosen and separated men and women

to become dedicated to your service.

They are your chosen ones, who live in a way that separates them from the world.

They live in the world but not of the world.

All baptized Christians are yours; they belong to you and to you alone.

Increase our faith and zeal to live according to your will.

May our way of life testify to this faith. Amen

DISCERN

1. In our context, Stewardship, Bishop Buzon explained, is “to imitate Jesus in his generous self-giving in fulfilling the will of the Father. When we generously give, we become Christ-like. To be Christ-like is to realize like Jesus that everything that one has is from the Father (Jn 17:7) and that one is called to ensure that nothing is lost of that which was received. (Jn 18:9)” (Excerpt from January 20, 2020, Homily).

2. Furthermore, the bishop expressed that “The spirituality of stewardship is one that forms us to acquire the mind and heart of Christ, the servant/steward.” It is based “on the primordial truth that we do not own anything in this world. We are not owners but only stewards.” He cited St. Paul who said, “What do you have that you have not received? And if you have received, why do you claim it is yours? (1 Cor 4:7)” (Excerpt from January 20, 2020, Homily).

3. As Christians, we ought to be righteous in the eyes of God, who have given us the graces we need in this world.

At the end of our lives when we are made to account for how we lived our lives, can we truly say that we have tried to live our lives as servants of the Lord?