Editor’s note: The passing of our friend and longtime advisor Msgr. Thomas McGread in April was a tremendous loss to all who came to know him and work with him in developing stewardship as a way of life. But Msgr. McGread’s legacy will continue to live on through our work and through this blog, as we are fortunate to have in our archives many of his writings and teachings. The Catholic Steward will continue to share these with our followers as we continue to live Msgr. McGread’s vision for stewardship and evangelization in the Church.
Stewardship is a gift that we need to teach our children. When they are growing up, they watch what their parents do with their time and learn from it.
Fr. Patrick Peyton, a great man involved with the Family Rosary Crusade, once said, “A family that prays together stays together.” When I first heard the statement years ago, I thought it was powerful and I think it’s still important today.
When parents pray with their children at home they see how their parents are dependent on Almighty God. For children, especially little ones, parents serve that role of God because the little children depend on their parents for their housing, food, and everything else.
So, parents can use praying together as a way to teach children about our dependence on God for everything and how all of our gifts – our time, our talents, and our treasure – are gifts from God. Building lessons of proper use of time will begin to teach the little children how to take their first steps of stewardship.
