2 minute read
A Letter from Our Pastor: Cultivating Stewardship
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In June, we celebrate Father’s Day. St. Joseph, the earthly father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may seem to be overlooked, but we do need to look at him always and especially on Father’s Day. He humbly accepted his role much in the same way that St. Mary did. He does not have much to say in the Bible, indicative of his humility and understanding. Yet he, like Mary, was obedient. He was selfless. He was a worker, and in his own quiet way, he was a leader — an example to all of us.
Advertisement
St. Joseph is, as you know, the patron saint of fathers, workers, and the universal Church. St. Joseph was the steward of the Holy Family. He was given the gifts of Mary and Jesus to protect, provide and teach. If we could all emulate Joseph in some small part each day, we would be closer to being the disciples Christ has called us to be.
Part of being a Christian means being a good steward of the Lord’s countless gifts to us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “In the beginning, God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits” (CCC 2402).
In southern Nebraska, we have a special sense of what it means to cultivate the earth and bring forth the fruits of the land by labor, prudent care, and common stewardship. In His public ministry, Jesus often used these images from farming and agriculture to reveal the mysteries of his Kingdom. In Luke’s Gospel, He spoke of those who, cultivating the seed of God’s Word, “bear fruit through perseverance.”
Like St. Joseph, all of us are called, in one way or another, to cultivate and be generous stewards of our gifts. As St. Peter wrote, “According to the gift that each has received, administer it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). When we do this in faith, we grow in our great dignity of being called stewards of the Lord and we cultivate the mission of His Church together through the bond of love.
In His Mercy,
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor
