One of the most memorable lines in the New Testament was spoken by Thomas to Christ in response to the Lord’s farewell discourse at the Last Supper:  “Master, we do not know where you are going;  how can we know the way?” Thomas speaks these words not just because he is slow or dim-witted. He is not being obtuse or uncooperative. Thomas in this passage and in the other famous passage expressing doubt about the bodily resurrection of Christ shows the challenge every disciple must face in recognizing the limits of human knowledge based primarily on the senses and reason. Christ is inviting Thomas to look toward the unknown and unknowable future and make the decision of faith to accept that God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Knowing Christ then is knowing that God is with us. When we remain close to Christ, being a faithful disciple in following Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, then there is nothing that we need fear. Doubt and confusion, anxiety and fear—these give way to trust and confidence that God will provide.

Our parish, along with every other parish and organization in the Diocese of Jefferson City, is being asked to make stewardship the primary way we accomplish our mission as disciples of Christ. Stewardship is receiving God’s gifts of time, talent and treasure with gratitude, accounting for them as precious signs of God’s care for us, and sharing them generously, sacrificially proportionately in justice and love with others, that these gifts of grace may be returned with increase to the Lord. For many, the change will be largely one of language and intention, meaning that there are many parishioners who already fulfill the precept to attend Sunday Mass and engage in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church, accompanied by daily prayer and faith formation. That is the time they offer back to God as stewards. These parishioners are also engaged in the mission of the parish, assisting in many large and small ways in building community, providing charitable service to others in faithful leadership and ministry roles. Finally, they can be counted on to share their treasure generously and faithfully, demonstrating their faith by giving back to God the first fruits of their blessedness as disciples of Christ and children of God.

This week I would like to focus a bit on the treasure aspect of stewardship. The biblical foundation of contributing a portion of our financial and material resources to the Church is in the notion of the tithe. “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine."  (Proverbs 3: 9-10) 

Deuteronomy 26 is more specific about the amount of the return to the Lord:  The Hebrew is ʿāśar, and literally means “one tenth”. In English this has been traditionally translated by the word “tithe” which is an old word for a portion of one tenth. I think this customary translation does a disservice to the Scriptures and to God. It seems that these days we consider the word “tithe” to represent whatever contribution we might make to the Church. That is true in one sense, but a fuller understanding of the word cannot ignore the recommended size of the portion.

The efforts of the Church to engage in a fuller practice of stewardship, following the call of 20^th century renewal to be more scripturally based, attempts to recover this ancient understanding of what we owe back to the Lord. In the language of math, the tithe is the portion of a disciple’s treasure, with a goal of committing 8% of income to the parish and 2% to favorite charities. It includes a 10% parish tithe of the parish to the diocese, and being open to contributing above and beyond according to our blessings. This is the goal that stewardship strives for.

In many ways at this point in our journey of stewardship, I can certainly relate to Thomas’s reaction to hearing the Lord say that he was going “away”. We are being asked as individuals and as a parish to make a ten percent offering of our treasure as a sign of trust and faith in God’s providence. We aren’t quite sure how this is going to work out. Our uncertainty can make us say, “What if...?” “What about…?” “Why and how…?”  10% or even 8% might seem to many as a completely ludicrous goal.

Stewardship  transforms our incredulity with the help of the Holy Spirit into prayerful discernment. That means our faith is going to guide our accounting practices and not vice versa. The parables of the Kingdom are powerful lessons in accountability. Masters and servants, fathers and sons, bridesmaids and wedding guests, land owner and laborer:  all are gifted with some precious resource and are held accountable for those gifts. In the end, the Lord himself will ask an account of us, and that accounting will bear witness to how we loved Christ in our fellow human beings. The discernment begins with prayer and reflection on the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church. Opening our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit who will grant us the grace needed to put forth the portion that God is asking of us.

        We may be uncomfortable or unused to or unsure about how to go about integrating the family budget into our faith life. That is ok and understandable. This is just not something that the Catholic Church has focused on to the extent most Christian denominations do or that the Church of Latter-Day Saints does. It has not been a regular part of our faith formation curriculum. The recent offering of the program “Grateful Living:  the Joy of Stewardship” is a step in the right direction. Later this summer we will begin the preparation for the annual Catholic Stewardship Renewal in October when we make our formal commitments of time, talent and treasure for the coming year. That process will assist us greatly.

In the meanwhile all of us can begin evaluating our own response to the call of stewardship guided by this simple prayer:  Father, draw me closer to you in prayer, especially through the celebration of the Eucharist. Christ, teach me to be generous in serving you by acts of charity and mercy and so build up your Body, the Church. Holy Spirit, guide me in the way of generosity that I may freely and with full confidence offer you back the first fruits of your many blessings.