As I mentioned during the homilies at all our Masses last Sunday, "Innovation through Strewardship through Renewal through Innovation ..." and on and on like "A rose is a rose is a rose. I just cannot get this printed in a circular form! Stewardship, when truly accepted and understood, is without doubt a call to conversion of heart. Again, stewardship is far beyond simply asking for money. Each of you who owns a home and has a family knows that being a good steward of your home stretches far beyond the cost. This coming "holiday" weekend --- when many will most likely be celebrating with Christopher at places other than MacArthur Boulevard --- I will be addressing the issues of time and talent in stewardship. Even before considering stewardship of our treasure, we really have to know how to steward our use of time, time, time. Who does not complain about the lack of time? Show me this person and we will, as Msgr. Duffy says so often, "laudabimus eum/eam" (we will praise him/her).
When I hear anyone mention the effort for "quality time," I would very much like to interrupt and suggest considering "quantity time." Get the message? The good and faithful steward is a person who knows how to prioritize not just time but what is most important in each day. I will be using what I think is a great example to demonstrate how we so often fail ourselves in setting our priorities. You can read it here on Monday, if you were away over the weekend. It is my hope that the time we give to a consideration of Stewardship on the three Sundays will result not only in good for the parish but for your personal life as well. Our modern culture, while filled with so much good, has surely taken us away from being able to give the most important issue in our lives "quality time" much less "quantity time."
