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Stewardship: The Four Pillars
ou’ve heard about the three Ts of stewardship, but what about the four Ps? The three Ts – Time, Talent, and Treasure – describe the personal gifts we offer to the Church. The four Ps are the Four Pillars of Parish Stewardship described by the renowned pastor Msgr. Thomas McGread. They are the hallmark of a stewardship parish – Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service. Let’s take a look at each of them to understand how we can improve in each area.
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of understanding of how to pray. We have to schedule time for prayer just as we would for an important appointment. And we have to learn how to pray from other people. Many saints have written spiritual books that describe different methods of prayer.
Formation Continuous Conversion Pope John Paul II always emphasized ongoing conversion. From childhood through adulthood, our whole life Hospitality must be a process of drawing closer to God. He never stops Christian Kindness calling us forward to learn more and to examine ourselves “When I was a stranger, you welcomed me” (Matthew more deeply. 25:35). The Gospel teaches that whenever we welcome the Very often our society values material things more than least of our brothers or sisters, we welcome Christ Himself. interior virtues. But as personal experience shows, when we That is why the first mark of a stewardship parish is hos- finally acquire the car or house or “toy” that we wanted so pitality. Being friendly is one of the first ways we can be badly, it doesn’t really satisfy. On the other hand, we don’t Christ-like toward others. tend to desire spiritual virtues with the same kind of longModern Catholic parishes are often so large and have ing, but when we actually have them, we find them far more so many Masses that many parishioners don’t know one rewarding than material things. another. To create a sense of community, be sure to smile and greet others as you enter and exit the Church. Let’s try Service harder than ever to be a welcoming community. Love in Action “Amen I say to you, whatever you did to the least of Prayer my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). This Heart-to-Heart with God Scripture was one of St. Teresa of Calcutta’s favorites. “Do not become so involved in the work of the Lord Each time she picked up a poor and hungry child, she that you forget the Lord of the work,” a seminary pro- knew she was ministering to Christ. While we may not fessor once taught. In other words, don’t get so caught up view ourselves as saints, we too are called to such heroic with parish projects and outreach efforts that you forget service right within our own community. As St. Teresa of to draw aside to spend time with God in prayer. Every Calcutta said, “To be a saint is not the privilege of a few, great saint has taught that prayer is the most essential but the duty of everyone.” component in the life of the Christian. Through prayer, We have many service opportunities right here withwe nurture our most important relationship – the one in our own parish. If you have the willingness to serve that will last for all eternity. and take the initiative to find where you are needed, A healthy prayer life should include communal prayer you’ll find that there is no end to the families and insuch as Mass, as well as personal prayer and family prayer. dividuals who truly need help. How can you reach out The two biggest obstacles to prayer are lack of time and lack to them in love?
