Gratitude is the Soul of Stewardship

From Dan Conway’s The Good Steward, November 2006

November is sometimes called “gratitude month.” It’s the time of year when we celebrate the uniquely American feast of Thanksgiving. It’s also the time of year when many parishes and dioceses throughout the country conduct annual stewardship renewals – inviting parishioners to once again make commitments of time, talent and treasure to the work of the Church.

Although stewardship education should be a full-time, year-round activity, the annual stewardship renewal is designed to be a time of intense involvement and focus on our Church’s mission and priorities. It’s also a time of increased awareness of the many blessings God has bestowed on us, his family of faith, and of our need to say “thank you” for all these abundant blessings. This November is a particularly good time to give thanks to God for his goodness to us.

During the month of November, let’s remember that the primary task of stewardship education is not to raise money (as important as that is for our mission). Our first priority is to help all of us recognize our gifts and blessings with a grateful heart so that we can cultivate them responsibly and share them generously with others …

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