God’s Stewards
Today is the first Friday of this new month. We are thankful to the Lord Jesus for bringing us to another month giving us a new opportunity to live life to the full, and a chance to come back to Him if ever we have lost our way in our journey. We started this month of November with 2 days of commemorating all the saints and all the faithful departed, those who have gone ahead of us. These days were celebration of hope: hope that those who have struggled to live good and holy lives here on earth are now with God forever in heaven; and hope that our beloved dead who may be in purgatory will one day join the communion of saints in heaven. We who are here on earth also look forward in hope that one day, we too will be with God forever in heaven. Of course, just like those who have gone ahead of us, we too will have to struggle to be faithful, will have to face temptations and suffering in order to be and do good, will have to choose God always in all we do. During this month of November, the Church dedicates this in praying for all the faithful departed. We can gain the indulgence when we visit devoutly a cemetery or if not, to pray for the dead, recite the Our Father, the Creed, and a prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father. It is also recommended to go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation as one prays for our beloved dead.
In today’s Gospel we are presented with the person of the steward. Who is a steward? A steward is one who is employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns (such as the supervision of servants, collection of rents, and keeping of accounts). We are more familiar with the flight stewardess or flight attendant whose work is to manage the provisioning of food and attends to passengers. A steward in the context of our gospel today is someone who manages properties on behalf of somebody else. The steward in our gospel did not measure-up to his task so his master decided to replace him. The master disapproved of his steward’s dishonest squandering of his property. Instead of being only a manager, the steward acted as if he is the owner of that which he was asked to manage. When that happened, the owner decided to remove him from his job.
Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus, the Gospel reminds us today that we are also stewards of the many blessing from the Lord. The first gift or blessing that we have received from God is the gift of our life. We are stewards of this gift of life that God has entrusted to us, we are not its owner. This is why we are reminded to take care of our life, to develop it but not abuse and misuse it. As stewards, we are not the owners, thus we are not the ones to decide when and how to end life. As stewards of the gift of life, we are not the ones also to decide who are those who will live in this world. It is God, the author and owner of life, who decides and allows. How do we become good stewards of the many blessings of the Lord to us? For example, the riches that we have, we use them not only for ourselves, but we can also share them most especially with those who can’t pay back our generosity. It is also the same with our God-given abilities which can be used not only for ourselves. We can share with others by teaching, so that others may benefit from it. If some of you here have the skill to write or to speak well, you can use them to share good and inspiring messages to every one starting here in our school community.
The mistake of the steward in the Gospel is that he squandered not only the property of his master, but he also did not value the trust and confidence that his master gave him. Brothers and sisters, our Lord and Master is Jesus, let us not misuse whatever blessings, gifts, abilities that He has given and entrusted to us. And let us not ruin the trust and confidence that He gave us. Let us be good stewards of the gifts that we receive from an all-generous and kind God. On a final note: whenever I celebrate Masses for the Dead or Funeral Masses, I always end my homily reminding everyone, including myself, to examine one’s life-how-on how we are presently living. If we are living a good life now, then thank God and continue on. If we are far away from the Lord now, there is still time for us to change our life for the better and slowly come back to Him. It is like looking at how we have been stewards of God’s gift of life to us.
As we celebrate today’s Mass on this commemoration of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us live God’s love in us by being good stewards of the blessings and gifts that He has bestowed upon each of us. As educators, let us teach the young to become good stewards by being exemplary stewards ourselves. As students, learn to appreciate and develop the many gifts that the Lord has given to you. Let us take some time to pause and reflect as we thank God for trusting in us and believing in us stewards of His many gifts and blessings.
Disclaimer: This section of the website is a personal creative writing of the author and does not necessarily reflect the official views, opinion, or policies of the Salesians of Don Bosco – Philippines South Province. For concerns on the content, style, and grammar of this piece, please contact us.
