Living the life of a steward

	Stewardship: A Way of Life logo

The Green Bay Diocese is inviting Catholics to live stewardship everyday to make the church, parishes and individuals better, says Bp. Robert Banks.

"When reading the line (Lk 10:1-9), 'The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few,' we often took it for granted that we were talking about priests," he said. "Since Vatican II, all kinds of people are called to work in the harvest. You and I are called to reap this harvest."

Last week, Bp. Banks celebrated Mass with diocesan employees as part of a stewardship kickoff. A gathering followed featuring "Stewardship: A Disciple's Response," a presentation by Bp. Robert Morneau.

"Reaping the harvest is doing the work of the Lord," said Bp. Banks in his homily. "The goal is to try to do the work of the church even better. The church of Green Bay is a good church, but it could be a better church. We have good parishes, but we could have even better parishes."

"Stewardship is very inclusive, it is very demanding, and very enjoyable," said Bp. Morneau. "In my life, I have not met a person who has deep joy who is not very generous with their time, talent and treasure."

To define stewardship, Bp. Morneau posed two questions.

"I look at the gifts in my life--a good mom and dad, four sisters and a brother, freedom living in this country," he said. "What return can we make for all the Lord has given us?"

To be good stewards, God's gifts need to be received gratefully, nurtured responsibly, shared justly and charitably, and returned abundantly, he continued.

Bp. Morneau turned to the closing line of Spanish poet Antonio Machado's The wind, one brilliant day for his second stewardship-defining question. Machado wrote, "What have you done with the garden entrusted to you?"

The gardens in our lives include our bodies, relationships, politics, the arts, psychology and economics, said Bp. Morneau. He further emphasized the role relationships play in being good stewards.

"Stewardship is not about diplomas on the wall or money in the bank," he said. "It's about our relationship with God, with one another, with ourselves. There are two types of people in the world, those who do God's will and those who do their own will."

Bp. Morneau pointed to Michael Downey's book Altogether Gift as a good source in understanding how theology underlies our call to stewardship. In his book, Downey explores the Trinitarian image of God as Giver, Given and Giving.

"Not to know who God is, is not to know who we are," said Bp. Morneau. "Our God is a promise helper and a promise keeper."

"Stewardship: A Way of Life," will kick off in diocesan parishes, Nov. 9-10.

"We are asking all parishes to look at stewardship and introduce the concept at liturgies," said Mark Mogilka, diocesan director of Pastoral Services. "We need to get the stewardship message across to people. If we are changing hearts and lifestyles, we need a minimum of three to five years of emphasis and energy of communicating the message of prayer, service and sharing."