God’s greatest gift to each of us is that of human life. In the Sacrament of Baptism, be it as an infant, or as an RCIA candidate, we are all called to a life of discipleship. As a recipient of the gift of life, God created us, as disciples, to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.
In order to know God, we must develop a relationship with Him. That relationship is fostered through a variety of regular, ongoing and committed activities. Committing time to prayer is of utmost importance. Regular attendance at Mass, time spent in an adoration chapel, prayer time in the quietness of one’s home, participating in bible study, frequent praying of the Rosary, keeping the Commandments, participating regularly in the sacraments and following the beatitudes, etc. — are all key building blocks in facilitating a relationship with God.
In the process of building a relationship, that of seeking to know God, we then begin to better recognize, receive, and accept his love for us. In turn, as we then allow our hearts and minds to be formed into an attitude of gratitude, we then begin to willingly share these gifts regularly in committed action, serving the mission of our parish, our diocese and the wider universal Church, absent that expectation of receiving anything in return. This, then, is what we call stewardship, that of putting our call to discipleship into action as we are called to do so in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In this season of Lent, let us recognize our need to better know, love and serve God through an ongoing, life-long stewardship-way-of-life, whereby we are always mindful of our need to be praying, fasting and giving alms.
