Embracing Stewardship and a
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Journey of Sainthood
rowing up in the Catholic Church, we have heard the names St. Patrick, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Nicholas, St. Peter, and several more Saints. There are thousands of Saints, each of them an example of how we are called to live out our faith. We are called to be saints too! Yet, the challenge most of us face is the reality of our lives. We have chores that we need to do, we have a job that takes up most of our time, we have children that need our attention and keep us busy. How could we possibly live a life like the Saints? On April 17, we had our Annual Stewardship Parish Retreat. Our presenter, Lisa McArdle, spoke about the many ways we can live our lives and answer the call to sainthood. Lisa spoke about stewardship starting in the home, and she shared examples of living as stewards, which will lead us to sainthood. Many of you are probably wondering how stewardship and sainthood are connected. Stewardship is recognizing the many gifts that God gives you and your response to share those gifts with others through your time, talents, and treasure. Sainthood is living a life that reflects God’s love in all that you do and leads you to a closer relationship with Him. Stewardship and sainthood are very connected. Stewardship provides us a little structure to help guide us as we learn how to serve God on our journey to sainthood. The Four Pillars of Stewardship are hospitality, prayer, formation, and service. These same four focuses work for living a life like the Saints. Below are a few examples:
Lisa McArdle spoke at our Stewardship Parish Retreat.
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Hospitality is greeting others as if we are meeting Christ. St. Teresa of Calcutta says she saw the face of Christ in all the poor that she served. St. Katharine of Drexel grew up receiving the poor into her home and continued serving the poor the rest of her life. + For our lives — change how you greet your family members as they come home; consider having dinner time as family time with no distractions; consider greeting your neighbors when you drive to or from home, or say “hello” to people in stores.
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Prayer is raising one’s heart to God. Through prayer, we are better able to hear what God is calling us to in our lives. St. Catherine of Siena wanted to spend her life in prayer, but God called her to go speak with the pope continued on back cover
Stewardship is recognizing the many gifts that God gives you and your response to share those gifts with others through your time, talents and treasures. Sainthood is living a life that reflects God’s love in all that you do and leads you to a closer relationship with Him. Stewardship and sainthood are very connected.
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