I first heard about stewardship in 1959, so I’ve been working on it for quite a few years now. Back then, I focused on two priests from the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama, who were trying to come up with a Catholic theology for the Protestant idea of tithing. Protestants are very good at this, so it was something that was good to emulate.
One thing I noticed in the 1960s that is still true today is this: whenever you talk about tithing in church, you lost about 75 percent of the audience.
So, I decided that there must be something that we were missing.There must be something more to this whole idea of being a good steward.
This is when I started developing the concept of time and talent, particularly time, because everybody has time. It’s what started the whole process of being a good steward in God’s kingdom, and it’s what it’s still about 50 years later.
How much time do you give to God?
After all, we know we can’t exist without God thinking about us. And, that’s how dependent we are on Almighty God. If God ceases to think about us — for even one moment — we simply cease to exist.
And, yet how often do we really go to God each and every day of our lives?
Time is the first step of stewardship. The more you instill that in your parishes, the more effective your stewardship way of life will be.
