Our last column presented an overview of the Truths of Stewardship, as detailed in the doctoral dissertation of Deacon Doug Vlchek, Ph. D., of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Our world today often views “truths” in a confusing manner, giving them a nebulous character that shifts, amoeba-like, to bend to the current set of circumstances. These aren’t really truths, but platitudes of convenience used to justify whatever one wants to justify.
More so, these “truths” carry no mention of God, taking Him out of the equation entirely. Once that is accomplished, one can justify anything.
The Truths about stewardship, however, are rooted in God. These Truths really ARE true, able to withstand the test of time and the onslaught of post-modernist nihilism.
Truth Number 1: Everything was created by God.
If one adheres to our Catholic beliefs, it is impossible to argue against the fact that everything was created by God. St. Thomas Aquinas lays out this fact in his First Cause argument, where everything comes from something, tracing back through eternity to the explosion of gases known as the Big Bang, which was the beginning of the universe. The universe didn’t just exist, but rather came from the hand of God. Since He brought the universe into being, and we cannot make something out of nothing, the only conclusion we can reach is that “Everything was created by God.”
Truth Number 2: Everything belongs to God.
God never transferred the title to Everything once He made the world. Rather, it all still belongs to Him.
We are only on this earth for a short time. David wrote of this in Psalm 90 when he said “Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong; Most of them are toil and sorrow; they pass quickly, and we are gone” (Ps 90:10). In the blink of an eye, we are nothing but a fond memory to those we leave behind. Quoting his grandmother, Pope Francis noted that “burial shrouds have no pockets.” What we claim to own is not ours at all, but is ours just to care for in the short time we are here.
Truth number 3: God gave it all to us to take care of on His behalf.
I enjoy working with wood. This necessitates a shop where the activity can take place. Sometimes I will get lazy in the middle of a project and not clean up my mess. Sawdust everywhere, scraps of wood on the floor, tools laying on benches, all indicative of me not fulfilling my responsibilities and taking care of my space.
On a much larger scale, we have to take care of our space. That includes the “…world and those who dwell in it” (Ps 24:1). We not only have to pick up and dispose of the messes we make, both figuratively and literally, but the Lord calls on us to leave things better than we found them. My Dad used to tell me that if I borrowed something, I should always return it in better shape than I received it. It is our responsibility to care for our world, to leave it in better shape than we received it. Anything else is sinful.
Truth number 4: Discipleship demands stewardship; and Jesus is the teacher AND the model
We can’t be disciples – followers of Jesus - unless we do what he tells us. It is very clear that he tells us we have to be good stewards of the gifts given us by God, to take care of them, and to return them with increase.
These truths are not confusing. When the world seems upside down and backwards, know what the real truth is. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).
Thanks for reading. Write to me at [email protected].
Next time: All of me, part I.