Monthly News from the Office of Stewardship
In this issue:
• Ongoing Formation
Phase:
Who is it for?
• Calendar items:
Region IX
Stewardship
Conference
Parish
Leadership
Institute
• Prayer resources
• From the Archives:
Characteristics of a
Christian Steward
• Serenity prayer
February 2015
ONGOING FORMATION Phase:
March – April - May
Who is the Ongoing Formation Phase for? All of us! We are never done learning!
Stewardship is a journey not a destination.
Stewardship is a way of life; it’s about taking what God has given us and taking care
of it. Stewardship should permeate everything in our lives, and not be seen as
separate from anything.
The Joy of the Gospel- Chapter 1 – The Church’s Missionary Transformation:
19. Evangelization takes place in obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus: “Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20)
That’s The Great commission!
is the grateful
response of a
Christian disciple
who recognizes
and receives God’s
gifts and shares
these gifts in love
of God and
neighbor.
‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all
your mind. This is the greatest and the 1st commandment. The second is like it: You
shall love the neighbor as yourself.” Matt 22:37-39
That’s The Great commandment!
So… here’s a Great thing:
Love God and one another by making disciples.
Regional IX Stewardship Conference – Columbia, MO – Friday, May 1st
Parish Leadership Institute – Spiritual Life Center – Saturday, August 1st
3 great resources for prayers for meetings recommended by Fr Roger Lumbre:
Near Us and Within Us by Debra A. Hintz
Weekly prayer services for parish gatherings based on the 2nd readings of
Sunday
Creative Praying in Groups by Julia McGuinness
Threading prayer through meetings and gatherings
Lift Up Your Hearts! by Deborah McCann
50 Blessings and prayers for Parish meetings & ministries
FROM
THE
ARCHIVES:
1999
Excerpts from
Characteristics of a Christian Steward
Bishop Eugene Gerber:
Christ calls us to be stewards of the gifts that He gives us. A faithful steward is characterized by a life of
virtue. I am pleased to present the following document that hopefully will serve as a source of personal
reflection to what constitutes a faithful Christian steward. The pages that follow incorporate Scriptural
reflections and examples of those who have gone before us in faith, who gave living testimonies of true
discipleship.
May each of us strive to fold these characteristics into our lives as followers of Christ. May we commit
ourselves to lives of faithful stewardship. God is with us.
OVERVIEW
Disciples of Christ
The life of a Christian steward is lived as a disciple of Christ. As the U.S Bishops point out in their
pastoral letter on stewardship, “Following Jesus is the work of a lifetime. At every step forward, one is
challenged to go further in accepting and loving God’s will. Being a disciple is not just something else to do
alongside many other things suitable for Christians, it is a total way of life and requires continuing
conversion.”
This “total way of life” is reflected in a number of characteristics, all found perfectly in Jesus, and
therefore all key to anyone who desires to grow as a Christian steward. By learning more about these
characteristics, it is hoped that Christian disciples can apply this knowledge to their stewardship way of
life.
While there are many characteristics that could be identified for stewards striving to follow Jesus, the
following ten seem essential: prayer, humility, trust, patience, responsibility, gratitude, generosity,
simplicity, mercy and perseverance.
Bound By Love
Each of these characteristics is an integral part of stewardship. Each presents its own unique challenges.
Yet all are connected to one another. As a steward makes progress in one characteristic, he or she will
often discover growth in the others as well. That is because all of these characteristics are bound
together by the virtue of love.
To give ourselves over to Christ with the kind of love He has given us requires a conversion—“a change
of mind and heart, (through which) this commitment is expressed not in a single action, nor even in a
number of actions over a period of time, but in an entire way of life. It means committing one’s very self to
the Lord.” Such commitment comes from the depths of our hearts and souls—inspired by grace and
motivated by love.
The entire document Characteristics of a Christian Steward can be found here:
http://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/stewardship-resources/four-pillars-of-parishstewardship/formation
Hard copies are also available, please contact the Office of Stewardship
The Serenity Prayer
There are several versions of The Serenity Prayer:
 The most familiar version in the graphic at the right.
 A longer version below
 An adaptation by Father Jim Martin, a well-known
humorous Jesuit priest
LONG VERSION:
ADAPTATION:
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot
change, which is pretty much everyone, since I’m
clearly not you, God. At least not the last time I
checked.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it,
trusting that You will make all things right,
if I surrender to Your will,
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with You forever in the
next.
Amen.
And while you’re at it God, please give me the courage
to change what I need to change about myself, which is
frankly a lot, since, once again, I’m not you, which
means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself than to
worry about changing other people.
Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up whenever I
think that I’m clearly smarter than everyone else in the
room, that no one knows what they’re talking about
except me, or that I alone have all the answers.
Basically, God, grant me the wisdom to remember that
I’m not you.
Amen.
Fr. Ken Van Haverbeke
Director of Stewardship
Check out our website:
http://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/stewardship
We’d love to share your ideas! Send them to us and we will post
them on our website. Sharing our gifts in love of God and other
parishes (neighbor). Stewardship!
316-269-3900 ext. 165
[email protected]
Audrey Ronnfeldt
Stewardship Coordinator
316 269-3900 ext. 136
[email protected]