Stewardship

First Reading: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 37
Gospel: Luke 5:33-39


New wine into old wineskins, and tearing an new cloak to patch an old one...why would Jesus share this parable with us? What is the point of it? The point is to share the importance of stewardship. A steward is someone who manages another person's property, finances, people, etc. In His parable today, Jesus teaches us that we are all stewards and that we must take care of what we are given here on earth. If we are given a new cloak, we should not tear it to fix an old one, but instead take care of that which we were given. And we should not be careless with new wine by putting it in old wineskins, risking the wine being ruined by busting out of the old skins.

St. Paul also talks today of being a good steward. He says we are stewards of the mysteries of God, and to be a good steward we must be trustworthy. We must also not let ourselves fall into the trap of judgement. How many times do we let our actions be ruled by the judgement of others? How many times do we fear what someone might think or say about how we are living or what we are doing. It can be easy to let how we judge or how others judge us get in the way of our role as a steward. St. Paul says not to worry about judgement, and to also not fall into the trap of judging others either. There is but one judge, and that is Jesus. He is the one that will judge us in the end, all we can do until then is be good trustworthy stewards.

If you want to see an amazing example of stewardship, then take a look at St. Joseph in the gospels (Luke 1-2; Matt 1-2). I would like to share an excerpt with you from "Steward Saints for Every Day" from the National Catholic Stewardship Council:

-Joseph, husband of Mary (Solemnity)
"For some of us, the first barrier to stewardship is understanding that all of what we think we own, really belongs instead to the Lord. That was not a problem for St. Joseph. From the very beginning, the words of an angel made clear that those special people who shared his life -- his beloved wife, Mary, and his adopted son, Jesus -- were "on loan" to him by the Lord and entrusted to his care. A man of great faith, he accepted the responsibility without hesitation. "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife," the angel said. "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt," the angel directed... And every time, St. Joseph obeyed without question. The carpenter of Nazareth patiently taught his foster son to practice his Jewish faith, passed on its laws and customs, and helped him to learn his trade. And he did it well, for Scripture tells us that "Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man" (Lk 2:52). It must have been difficult not to know how it would all turn out, for St. Joseph died before Jesus began his public ministry. But this just man of faith proved to be a conscientious steward of all that had been given him -- his traditions, his vocation, his relationships. "Whatever you do," Scripture says, "do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment" (Col 3:23-24). St. Joseph unfailingly did exactly that. May his example inspire us to do the same."

May we all have the courage to be the stewards that Jesus desires us to be, and the stewards that St. Paul and St. Joseph were.

Lord God, we thank you for the gift of this day. We thank you for all that we have, may we use it all to glorify you every day. Lord all that we are and all that we have comes from you. We pray for the courage and the wisdom to be good stewards of all that you have given us. Lord help us and all those who seek to grow closer to you and grow in their faith. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.