ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC PARISH
STEWARDSHIP
Given the present emphasis in our culture on such things as individualism, materialism, consumerism and relativism, we can lose sight of some of the basic values of the Christian life: community, generosity, truth, compassion, care for others, forgiveness, peace, unity.
Understanding stewardship in terms of discipleship, following Jesus wholeheartedly, without counting the cost, we begin to recognize that there are many obstacles to our living out our call to follow Jesus.
Chapter 1 of the Pastoral Letter is titled �The Call�. Our vocation is a call to follow Jesus, and we are to be good stewards or caretakers of our vocation. We are challenged to �discern, accept, and live out joyfully and generously the commitments, responsibilities and roles to which God calls� us as disciples.
Remembering that a steward is a manager, a caretaker, one who is entrusted with something precious, of value. We need to take time to reflect on the meaning of our vocation for ourselves as individuals as well as for the church and the world.
Following Jesus means being with Jesus, living according to his teaching, living out the mission he has entrusted to us.
Do we appreciate the gift of our vocation, our call to live as disciples? What comes first � discipleship, faith, Christian life, or work, finances, position, prestige, other cares?
For the disciple, following Jesus comes first, all the rest flows out of that.
As we follow, listen, learn, grow, seek to be faithful, we discover how we are to live in the world, we understand the place of work, of finances in our lives, we learn to respond to the responsibility of family, relationships, community in different ways than the ways our culture teaches us.
In what ways are your values different from the values of our culture?
How are they the same? What needs to change in the way you understand your living out of the Christian vocation?
phone - 250-564-4097 fax - 250-562-3540
stmarys.parish(at)shawcable.com