The only time we are really happy in this life is when we have a good relationship with God.
That’s just the way God made us. He wants us all in Heaven with Him and He wants us to build a relationship with Him that is loving and free from guilt. When we develop this kind of relationship with the Lord, we can also have that kind of relationship with each other.
Since the beginning of time, we humans have tried to come up with ideas to buy our happiness. For some, it is power. For others, it is alcohol or drugs. For others, it is sex. None of these things have truly satisfied people for any length of time. This is true because God made each of us in the same way. He gave us the intelligence to think and the will to pass judgment. But God also threw in a conscience. Our conscience tells us from the time we are young that when we do something that makes us feel guilty regarding our relationship with God, we just don’t feel right.
When we are ridden with guilt and unhappy, we must get rid of that guilt through Confession, which is why God gave us the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation to help repair the relationship.
Developing this kind of relationship with Christ truly is the center of what the stewardship way of life is all about.
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, through the Msgr. McGread Stewardship Conference in Wichita, Kan., and through this blog. 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.
