February 5, 2017 — Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
IS 58: 7-10; PS 112: 4-9; 1 COR 2: 1-5; MT 5: 13-16
Stewardship is putting our faith in action through the use of the gifts given to us by God. It is becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The Lord did not want us to be passive in our approach to living. He wants more from us than just being quietly holy.
Remember that stewardship is a call from God to recognize that all of our blessings and talents have been given to us for a purpose. As baptized Catholics it is our obligation to share these gifts willingly in order to serve the Church and our parish community. As we have pointed out many times, stewardship is much more than financial support. It is, as stated, putting our faith in action with the key word there as “action.” In that way we can become, also as stated, a true disciple of the Lord.
In today’s Gospel reading from the Book of Matthew Jesus calls us salt and then light. He tells us, for example, that we are the light of the world, reflecting His light. Specifically He says to those who choose to be His disciple, “Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lamp stand.”
St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “To keep a lamp burning you have to keep putting oil in it.” If we see ourselves as lamps as Jesus told us we should be, we need to keep the oil in it and that requires action on our part.
