How do we react when our spiritual life is at risk? Do we ever consider it at risk? Are we certain that we can depend on the mercy of our loving God?
The role God has for us more than any other is the role of steward. A steward is one who takes care of something or someone that is not their own. We are called to be stewards of our earth, of creation, of our children, of our families. Each is God’s gift to us, they are not our possession, they are God’s. We are entrusted to care for what is God’s, and we will be held to account on how well we have cared for what God has entrusted to us. How will we do? What should we do? Summer is over, so homework would seem to be in order:
First and foremost, care for those God has entrusted to your care. Your children, your parents, your neighbors, your friends. Be the steward God has called you to be, no one else can steward the way God expects you to.
Second, care for the gifts you have been given, so the poor and needy can derive some benefit. Amos is clear, God does take note of how we steward our own wealth, God is eager to see if our wealth is only for us. Be the steward God has called you to be, no one else can steward the way God expects you to.
Third, prioritize God in your life, over the worry and fret we invest in our material well-being. We can be so preoccupied with our own finances, so caught up with our own financial accumulations, that we miss opportunities to be generous and responsive to those in need. Be the steward God has called you to be, no one else can steward the way God expects you to.
Finally, choose to be more present in worship and prayer, choose to put God where God belongs. Pray the prayers at mass, choose to sing in the choir (or at least sing), set aside time for prayer each day. Prayer and worship is to change our hearts, by recognizing God’s place in our lives. Be the steward God has called you to be, no one else can steward the way God expects you to.