Stewardship and Catholicity: Sharing Gifts and Resources
By Monsignor Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G.
 

There are 20 criteria that were approved for Called to Holiness and Mission: Pastoral Planning in the Diocese of Scranton.

Of these 20 criteria, 10 involve various aspects of stewardship or the grateful and responsible use of gifts, talents, abilities and resources for the evangelizing mission of the parish. Stewardship, vocation and mission are different aspects or facets of our responsibility to participate in the mission of the Church according to our position or relationship in the Church as Baptized and Confirmed Christian faithful, as religious living the consecrated life and those ordained to ministry as bishops, priests and deacons.

When we look at stewardship, vocation and mission together and see how they are interconnected, it will help us to understand our Christian responsibility as individuals and as members of a parish, a diocese and the Universal Church more clearly.

St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 12, verses 1-31 is a beautiful instruction that can lead to fruitful meditation on the variety of charisms and gifts that are given for the good of the Church and its evangelizing mission. First, we can read and meditate on his inspired words as individuals who can discover, develop and share their gifts, talents, abilities and resources for the common good. Secondly, we can reflect on St. Paul’s teaching as members of a parish, as members of a diocese and a universal, worldwide Church and appreciate an aspect of Catholicity that directs and motivates us to share our gifts and resources with one another.

St. Paul notes, “To each individual the manifestation of the spirit is given for some benefit.” Every person has a vocation or calling that involves spiritual and natural abilities and gifts. To become aware of one’s calling or vocation in life through one’s abilities and talents is important. It is also important to welcome God into our lives as we search for meaning and our life’s work. Any occupation or job can become a vocation, if accepted and practiced with faith and directed by the love of God and neighbor.

To search for a direction or occupation in life, a person of faith must pray and ask “What is God calling me to be?”, “What is God calling me to do?”, “How am I being called to share my life and my gifts for the common good and the proclamation and witness of the Gospel?”

Blessed Charles de Foucauld stated: “Vocation…means ‘calling,’ a call from God…therefore, we do not ‘choose a vocation’ but seek to find our vocation, to do all we can to hear the divine voice calling us, to make sure what He is saying…and then to obey him. It is not a question of following the right formula. It is a question of hearing God’s call and giving up every attraction and attachment that keeps us from knowing Him intimately.”

John Henry Cardinal Newman shared these thoughts: “God has created me to do Him some definite service: He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission; I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught.”

St. Paul teaches that “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all parts of the body, though many are one body, so also Christ.” Individually and as members of the Church, diocese and parish, we are called to holiness and mission, to share our life, time, talents, gifts, abilities and resources. We have a vocation to share in the mission of the Church and to be stewards of the gifts that we have received by our gratitude and the responsible use of what has been given to us. 

Catholicity and the Sharing of Gifts and Resources

The four marks of the Church – one, holy, catholic and apostolic – must be expressed in the life of the Church and in every parish. What do unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity mean for the local parish? What tasks or responsibilities do they give to a parish? Is the parish only a place for worship or is it also aware that it is a mission and by nature missionary? How does it understand its task and responsibility to express these marks in its life and activities? A parish that is authentically Catholic is not introspective or closed in on itself; it is open to neighboring parishes, realizes it is a part of a diocese and the Universal Church.

One important way that Christian communities, parishes, dioceses and the Universal Church are called to be what they are is to practice catholicity through the mutual enrichment and sharing of gifts with an awareness of their mission. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, teaches: “In virtue of this catholicity each individual part contributes through its special gifts to the good of the other parts and of the whole Church. Through the common sharing of gifts and through the common effort to attain fullness in unity, the whole and each of the parts receive increase. Not only, then, is the people of God made up of different peoples but in its inner structure also it is composed of various ranks. This diversity among its members arises either by reason of their duties, as is the case with those who exercise the sacred ministry for the good of their brethren, or by reason of their condition and state of life, as is the case with those many who enter the religious state and, tending toward holiness by a narrower path, stimulate their brethren by their example…Between all the parts of the Church there remains a bond of close communion whereby they share spiritual riches, apostolic workers and temporal resources. For the members of the people of God are called to share these goods in common, and of each of the Churches the words of the Apostle hold good: ‘According to the gift that each has received, administer it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.’”

Not only individual Catholics, but parishes are called to share resources and gifts, and in doing so, express one important aspect of the meaning of catholicity, the mutual sharing of gifts, living in communion and communication with one another. Parishes have been described as “cells” of the diocese by the Second Vatican Council, and as the “connective tissue of the diocese” by Pope Benedict. No parish is an independent community, but a member of a communion of Churches in a diocese.

The catholicity of the parish will be enriched and more fully expressed by working together with other parishes, the diocese and Universal Church. Parishes that are in partnership understand that communion, communication, collaboration and cooperation express aspects of catholicity, while improving the effectiveness of their parish mission, through the elimination of a duplication of services and through sharing resources. This is also an example of good stewardship to which we are being called through Called to Holiness and Mission.  

Stewardship Expresses Aspects of Catholicity

Stewardship is a relatively new word in the vocabulary of most Catholics. It means a way of showing gratitude and a responsible use of the gifts that God gives to a person or community. In First Peter, Chapter 4, verse 10, we read: “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God varied grace.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has stated: “…as Christian stewards, we receive God’s gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.” While the word may be somewhat new, it expresses a very ancient and traditional understanding of how we should use our talents, resources and abilities for the common good. More recently, Pope Benedict XVI taught: “Christians in particular, conforming their lives to the gospel, recognize that all people are brothers and sisters: that life is a stewardship of the goods received from God, which is why each one is responsible for the other, and whoever is rich must be as it were an ‘executor of the orders of god the Benefactor.’ We must help one another and cooperate as members of one body.”

Individuals, communities and parishes are challenged by this understanding and the understanding of catholicity as a mutual sharing of gifts to be good stewards of their resources and gifts with one another for the proclamation of the Gospel and the common good.

One concrete way of expressing both catholicity and stewardship is through a practice of “partnership.” According to Called to Holiness and Mission: Pastoral Planning in the Diocese of Scranton, the Partnership Model is a formal relationship between two or more parishes which reflects the substantial sharing of current programs and resources and/or the development of new resources for parish mission. Partnerships commit to the development of programs, the allocation of material and human resources and/ or the creation of new joint activities or services for both staff and parish pastoral councils. Partnerships conserve resources by avoiding unnecessary duplication of services by working together to do things that are needed, but which a single parish might not be able to do alone.

Further aspects of stewardship consist of: 

Stewardship and Justice

• Parishioners are educated and formed in stewardship where all disciples share their time, talent and treasure.

• Social justice, advocacy and outreach programs are well integrated into parish life through the spirituality of good stewardship.

• A comprehensive view of being good stewards of God’s gifts: of creation and of the Church is embodied in all aspects of parish life. 

Stewardship and Administration

• The pastor, staff, parish councils and finance councils exert effective leadership that embodies stewardship and points to the future.

• The parish is financially stable and exercises good stewardship of its resources.

• Working with neighboring parishes and sharing resources is operational in the parish.

• The parish exercises good stewardship of human resources as it works positively and creatively with the diminishing number of priests.

• The parish is taking into account its geographic proximity to other parishes and its Mass attendance when it plans for the future.

• The parish has adequate staff to carry out its mission.

• The parish has adequate and well-maintained facilities to carry out its mission.

• The parish supports the programs and ministries of the Diocese and the Universal Church. 

In practice, parishes that are linked with one pastor or in partnership, having more than one pastor: create joint programs, when appropriate share staff, in-services or retreats for Parish Pastoral Councils, Parish Finance Councils or Parish Committees.