The
Steward’s Harvest
We are Sower.
We are Seed.
Ordinary Time 2007
Thoughts on Stewardship
by Bishop Kenneth Untener
Most. Rev. Kenneth E. Untener
8/1937 - 3/2004
Bishop of Saginaw, MI.
ishop Untener’s
views and
B
observations on
Stewardship and his deep
understanding of scripture were highly
regarded by his peers. His perspective on
the meaning of three words relating to
“Stewardship” are thought provoking. He
may cause us to see them in a new light.
“Stewardship”
The first word is “stewardship” . . . and the
first thing to say is that “stewardship” is not
a “Protestant” word, or even a “church”
word. It’s a word taken from the Gospels,
and not just from the Gospels, but from the
lips of Jesus. This is what Jesus says in Luke’s
Gospel:
“A rich man had a steward who was reported
to him for squandering his property. He
summoned him and said, ‘What is this I
hear about you? Prepare a full account of
your stewardship, because you can no longer
be my steward.’” (16:1-2)
The Gospels were written in Greek, and the
English words “steward” and “stewardship”
are used to translate a Greek word that
means to administer what belongs to
someone else.
Nowadays we might use a term like “moneymanager.” When a person gives their savings
over to a money-manager, it’s clear who
owns what. The money doesn’t belong to
the money-manager, it is entrusted to them.
They may get some of it - their fee - but the
money belongs to the person who gave them
the money. Imagine how off-base it
would be if a money-manager took
all the money and acted as though it
belonged to them to spend
p as
they alone wished to spend it.
That is the key: a steward is the “ward” of
what belongs to someone else.
Stewardship is not about occasional acts
of generosity, or now and then making
contributions to good causes. It’s not even
about money - it goes deeper than that.
The core of stewardship is seeing things
differently . . . seeing everything with new
eyes.
It’s not complicated. We simply realize that
everything we have - our existence, our life,
our goods no matter how we got them - all
come from God and belong to God, and we
are stewards of all this. Once we see it that
way, we live it that way - we try to administer
well God’s goods on behalf of God. That’s
what stewardship is.
When we die, God will ask us, “Well, how did
you do in administering everything I gave
you?” Imagine how off-base it would be if it
turns out we spent our whole life thinking all
these things belonged to us.
“Generosity”
Our next word is “generosity.”
It’s an interesting word, “generosity”. It
comes from the Latin word “birth,” and at
its root it means “someone of noble birth”.
It can, without us intending it, carry the
implication of bestowing some of our own
riches on other people.
Now that is not all bad, but what we need to
do is move beyond generosity - as though we
were giving away what rightfully belongs to
us by birth or however we got it. What we all
need to do is go beyond generosity and arrive
at stewardship - the realization that it all
belongs to God, no matter how we got it, and
we are administering it on God’s behalf.
“Greed”
Finally, I want to take a look at one more
word: “greed”. This is another word that is
on the lips of Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus
says, “Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich, one’s life does
not consist of possessions.” (12:15)
Remember, all four Gospels were written
in Greek. The Greek word for “greed” is
“pleonexia” . . . from the Greek word “pleo”
which means “more” and the word “nexia”
which means “to want.” Greed is literally “to
want more.”
Now, there is what I would call “raw greed”
- always wanting to get more and more. I
doubt that any of us fall into that category.
But there is a more subtle kind of greed - not
so much wanting to get more, but rather
to keep more. We want to keep too much of
what we have as though it all belonged to us.
A few days ago I stumbled on something
interesting. That Greek word for “greed”
- pleonexia - is used as a modern medical
term. In medicine, “pleonexia” means a
pathological condition of the blood. The
blood receives oxygen from our lungs, and
when the blood has pleonexia, it keeps
most of the oxygen for itself rather than
distributing it to the tissues of the body.
This is a perfect image of what can so easily
happen to us. We can make the mistake
of thinking that what we have - our time,
talent, material goods - belong to us and
are for us to do whatever we wish. We make
the same mistake the blood makes when
the blood forgets that it is a steward of the
oxygen and ends up keeping too much for
itself.
A Closing Thought
That’s enough Greek for one day, and that’s
the end of our study of words. We close
where we began . . . with the good word
“stewardship,” from the lips of Jesus.
Stewardship is a different way of looking at
things and when we see the world this way, a
certain peace of mind comes over us, a great
sigh of relief, a deep down happiness that
is worth more than money could buy. “The
earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” What
a great way to live.>
Luke - 16. 1-12
25th Sunday, Ordinary Time Cycle “C”
1 1 Then he
also said to
his disciples, “A
rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for
squandering his property. 2 He
summoned him and said, ‘What is this I
hear about you? Prepare a full account
of your stewardship, because you can no
longer be my steward.’ 3 The steward said
to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my
master is taking the position of steward
away from me? I am not strong enough
to dig and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know
what I shall do so that, when I am removed
from the stewardship, they may welcome
me into their homes.’ 5 He called in his
master’s debtors one by one. To the first he
said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 2 He replied, ‘One hundred measures
of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your
promissory note. Sit down and quickly
write one for fifty.’ 7 Then to another he
said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred kors 3 of wheat.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory
note; write one for eighty.’ 8 4 And the
master commended that dishonest steward
for acting prudently. 5 “For the children
of this world are more prudent in dealing
with their own generation than are the
children of light. 9 I tell you, make friends
for yourselves with dishonest wealth, 6 so
that when it fails, you will be welcomed
into eternal dwellings. 10 7 The person
who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones; and the
person who is dishonest in very small
matters is also dishonest in great ones. 11
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with
dishonest wealth, who will trust you with
true wealth? 12 If you are not trustworthy
with what belongs to another, who will give
you what is yours?
His Goodness Blooms in our Children
Mike Millisor D.R.E. – St. Edward the Confessor, Granville
I
n my years of parish work, it has become
very apparent to me that stewardship is
truly all about the willingness to accept
God’s blessings, and give of oneself to
ensure that others receive God’s gifts and
goodness. Nowhere in parish life is this
fact more evident than with the men and
women who volunteer to be catechists in
the religious education of our children and
youth.
Catechists come to see that their call to
serve truly comes from God, no matter
how they are attracted to this ministry.
Even those who are sometimes ”rather
intensely recruited” find that their skills
and knowledge are a special charism to be
utilized for the good of the community!
Accepting God’s blessings to pass on the
faith causes them to embrace the sacrifice
of many hours spent preparing and
teaching lessons during the course of a
school year. Their stewardship becomes
less a labor, and more of a “vocation in
the spirit.” Many experience God’s love for
themselves and their students in ways that
strengthens their willingness to continue
year after year! What they give of themselves
ensures that the parish’s essential mission of
faith formation remains strong and vibrant,
and can be passed on from generation to
generation.
The gifts of faith in our Lord and His
goodness bloom in our children like a
new flower (and often grow stronger in
their parents as well) because of the parish
catechist’s commitment to stewardship.
Communicating the truths and practices of
the Catholic faith is a nurturing experience,
and the values of Christian life become more
firmly rooted.
The rewards to all involved are evident way
beyond what takes place in the classroom
each week. I have often reflected upon the
truth that catechists “model the Eucharist”
for our children and youth. They are
themselves reflections of what a Eucharistic
community is all about by their words and
actions. What is passed on in a loving, joyful
and selfless way mirrors the Lord’s love for us
all when we share in His Body and Blood! >
Footnotes
1 [1-8a] The parable of the dishonest
steward has to be understood in the light
of the Palestinian custom of agents acting
on behalf of their masters and the usurious
practices common to such agents. The
dishonesty of the steward consisted in
the squandering of his master’s property
(Luke 16:1) and not in any subsequent
graft. The master commends the dishonest
steward who has forgone his own usurious
commission on the business transaction
by having the debtors write new notes that
reflected only the real amount owed the
master (i.e., minus the steward’s profit).
The dishonest steward acts in this way in
order to ingratiate himself with the debtors
because he knows he is being dismissed
from his position (Luke 16:3). The parable,
then, teaches the prudent use of one’s
material goods in light of an imminent
crisis. >
At Your Fingertips...
Stewardship Resources
The International Catholic
Stewardship Council
www.catholicstewardship.org
Reflections For Stewardship Homilies
www.catholicstewardship.org/Publication
New each month
Conferences and Events
www.catholicstewardship.org/en/events/
2007 International Catholic Stewardship
Conference Miami, Florida
23-27 September 2007
For more information, please call the
ICSC office at 202.289.1093, or email
[email protected].
“A Day of Living Catholic Stewardship,”
Sponsored by Our Sunday Visitor;
Nov. 16, 2007; Cleveland OH.
To Register: Online
www.conftvl.com/meetings
(credit card payments only)
Username: living Password: stewardship
Phone: (credit card payments only)
800.346.9807 x6566
US Council of Catholic Bishops
www.usccb.org/stewardship/
Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response,
Stewardship and Young Adults,
and Stewardship Publications
A publication from the Office of Development and Planning, Catholic Diocese of Columbus. • [email protected]