1.“…After sending the people away, He went up a hill by Himself to pray…” If there is one activity that is one of the major hallmarks of a steward’s life, it is prayer. Stewards must find time to be alone with God in prayer. Just as we find time to bond with our families and friends by spending time with them in conversation, we must spend time too with God in dialogue, by talking to and listening to Him.

How much time do you spend daily on prayer? What kinds of prayers occupy your prayer time? Prayers of requests and supplication? Prayers of thanksgiving? Prayers for discernment and guidance? Prayers for yourself and for your family? Prayers for others?

Each day, we are given a gift of 24 hours or 1,440 minutes. Assuming we spend eight hours of the day sleeping, we are left with 16 hours of productive time or time which can be used for doing different things. Our 16 hours would translate to 960 minutes. How much of your 960 minutes a day do you allot for prayer? A 10-minute prayer time throughout the day, at the least, translates to only 1% of your waking time given for prayer. Are you praying enough? Is there room in your day to pray more?

2.“…Between three and six o’ clock in the morning, Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water. When they saw Him walking on the water, they were terrified. It’s a ghost they said, and screamed with fear!…” The disciples did not recognize Jesus even if they thought they knew Him. This is a continuing challenge too in any steward’s life. We must learn to see God or Jesus in all things and in all situations – even in events which may be unknown to us or in things which may scare us or may be unfamiliar to us. Often, we do not realize it but situations which we fear or do not understand can be instances for us to see Jesus or for Jesus to come to us and say: “Courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

3. “…Then Peter spoke up. ‘Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you…’” Peter wanted Jesus to do something unusual for him for Peter to believe that it was Jesus Who was really out there. In our lives also, we may tend to associate God with the magnificent or the spectacular, with miraculous, unbelievable things. We want to be able to “walk on water.” We are ready to believe when God shows us that He can calm the water or the strong wind in our daily lives.

As followers of Jesus, though, we must remind ourselves that God or Jesus is everywhere – not only in the big and spectacular situations of life, but also in the times when life can appear mundane, routinary, and monotonous. He is in the ordinary things that we do everyday. In the people we encounter. In the situations we find ourselves in. In seemingly unanswered prayers. In blessings, big and small. He comes to meet us right where we are if we are able to see things through the eyes of faith.

Equally as important as seeing Jesus in everything, even in situations that we fear or are uncertain about or in the regular occurrences of life, is to make Jesus real and visible to others through our actions and the kind of life that we live. It has been said that individuals who spend a lot of time together soon begin to resemble each other in terms of physical and other attributes. How much time do you spend with Jesus in prayer? How well have you come to know Jesus in your own stewardship journey? When people see you, do they see Jesus?

Stewardship is realizing that everything in our lives, even the most ordinary of circumstances, is a blessing and that the little acts of kindness and giving that we may do to people we meet or encounter or even the way we go about our regular activities, assignments, or work, is also part of stewardship.

We share here a piece by Cynthia Ozick about The Riddle of the Ordinary. May it open your eyes to the blessings that abound in your life and how opportunities for stewardship are found right there in the midst of the kind of life that you live.

“The Extraordinary is easy. And the more extraordinary the Extraordinary is, the easier it is, “easy” in the sense that we can almost always recognize it…The Extraordinary does not let you shrug your shoulders and walk away.

But the ordinary is a much harder case. In the first place, by making itself so noticeable – it is around us all the time – the Ordinary has got itself in a bad fix with us; we hardly ever notice it. The Ordinary, simply by being so ordinary, tends to make us ignorant or neglectful; when something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren’t grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.

And this is the chief vein and deepest point concerning the Ordinary; that it does deserve our gratitude. The Ordinary lets us live out our humanity; it doesn’t scare us, it doesn’t excite us; it doesn’t distract us…Ordinariness can be defined as a breathing space: the breathing space between getting born and dying, perhaps; or else the breathing space between rapture and rapture or more usually, the breathing space between one disaster and the next. Ordinariness is sometimes the status quo, sometimes the slow, unseen movement of a subtle but ineluctable cycle, like a ride on the hour hand of the clock; in any case, the Ordinary is above all what is expected and what is expected is not often thought of as a gift.”

Reflect on your daily life. Are there things, events, or people that you have taken for granted simply because they are always there as you expect? How are you being a steward through the ordinary things that you do at home, at school, at work, or in your parish?

Trust in God is the theme of both the song and the Gospel. We trust that God will give us what we can carry. We trust that in God, no matter what our circumstances, we will find rest.

Trust is also a key component in a steward’s life. In the Filipino language, the word for steward is katiwala. Tiwala means “trust” while in the vernacular, the prefix ka always denotes some relationship – as seen in the words kapatid (sibling), kaibigan (friend), or even kaaway (enemy). Being a steward is therefore to have a relationship of trust between God and the steward. The ka can also be taken to mean kapwa tiwala or a relationship of mutual trust. We trust God. God trusts us. We trust God to look after us and all our needs, no matter what our circumstances. God trusts us with what with have – our resources, our talents, and even the challenges we face since “We know that in all things, God works for good with those who love Him, those whom He has called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 TEV).

Amidst the stress of daily life, it takes great effort to go from “crisis” to what “Christ sees.” But such is the test of true faith. “We demonstrate our faith by giving thanks before we see any results or before we receive any answer.” Rather than going by the world’s standards of “to see is to believe,” faith teaches us that “to believe is to see.”

So, as stewards, the challenge is to go from “crisis” to what “Christ sees” 24/7. Christ sees what you need. Be thankful. Christ sees what you do. Be responsible. Christ sees what you do with what you have in relation to others. Be generous.

In following Christ, the call is for us to aspire to be like Him. Thus, as we look to Christ to help us with our individual burdens, so must we bear one another’s burdens (or at the least, not add to the other’s burden!). “…Help carry one another’s burdens, and in this way, you will obey the law of Christ… So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone…” (Galatians 6: 2, 9-10)

The priest for the Holy Saturday talk was Fr. Jose Mario Francisco, SJ. Towards the end of his session, he gave three tips to live an Easter life. I thought the tips were worth sharing and so I share them here with all my Mom’s A Stewardess readers and visitors.

1. Be at peace amidst calm and turbulence. – trust in Jesus, the Lord of the resurrection, no matter what. “Salvation is much greater than all the good things we desire.” Let nothing disturb you…God alone suffices.

2. Struggle to love as fully as possible. – At times, it can be difficult to love others. The love we offer is imperfect for we are not angels. We cannot, however, afford to say: “Bahala na. Walang pakialamanan.”

3. Seek to establish justice even if our efforts fail. – this is what we are called to do. Even if what we do do not appear to make a dent. This is what we need to do because Christ is risen.

There you go. Please keep in mind these three tips as you experience different things in life. No matter what, remember that Christ is risen and that we must find God in all things and bring Him to others daily.

Here’s wishing you an Easter life!

1. To be a steward, do I need to share my time, my talent, and my treasure?

Each person is called to share in unique and different ways. In your journey as a steward, you may be moved to start with sharing your time and talent first, with treasure, following after, or it can also be the other way around. As you grow as a steward, however, you will see that eventually, you will be moved to share all the three Ts with love and joy.

2. How can I share my time and talent?

There are various ways to share your time and talent and one can get in touch with one’s parish and its different ministries or even with other organizations to serve in a way that best suits each individual.

Time and talent may also be shared in relation to one’s profession to benefit individuals in your community. If you are a doctor, for example, you may designate a certain number of hours during the month to treat patients who may not be able to afford your professional fee. If you are a photographer or a writer, you may want to volunteer your services for parish- or community-related events, projects, or activities.

3. I already give to other worthy causes and/or to the parish collection basket, should I still share my treasure specifically for Stewardship?

Offerings of treasure for Stewardship support many worthy projects of the Diocese and your parish. Donations to other worthy causes or money put in the collection basket serve other purposes. It is always better to give more and to grow in generosity.

4. How much must I give to Stewardship in terms of treasure?

There is no hard and fast rule regarding how much you should give. It is worth noting though that in deciding how much to give, we must keep in mind the following points:

It must be prayerful. – Pray about it. Reflect on what the Lord has blessed you with and discern how much of these resources you can share with others in a spirit of thanksgiving for what the Lord has given you.

It must be planned. – Your giving must be deliberate. You must set aside and prepare the amount that you have decided to give or offer on a monthly basis.

It must be proportionate. – In prayer, determine what percentage or proportion of the resources you have available will be shared with Stewardship. The percentage can start out small and can grow over time.

It must be sacrificial. – Your giving must hurt. The amount of money that you give away is something that you must feel. Remember the widow’s mite. Giving to this level develops trust in God’s provisions and generosity and likewise lessens your attachment to material riches.

5. Why is it recommended or important that I commit to serve or give regularly as a steward?

You are what you do repeatedly. Generosity is not an act; it’s a habit. A habit of serving or giving regularly is our expression of thanksgiving and strengthens our resolve to trust in a God Who always provides and Who can never be outdone in generosity. Stewardship is about serving and giving regularly in ways that will benefit your parish and a bigger community.

Christmas can be a highly stressful time with all the preparations that go with it. As I have aged though, I seem to be enjoying the Christmas season more as I reflect on its true meaning. There is still the rushing to shop, there are still the numerous expenses — but now I know that Christmas is not all about that. Christmas is about God’s great love for us and with that thought, how can your Christmas be anything but blessed and merry?

I share with you here something I wrote on Come to the Manger, a Christmas presentation by Dulaang Sibol of the Ateneo High School. May this piece and the links shown there help you reflect on the real meaning of this season. Please invite Christ to your Christmas celebration. After all, it is His birth and Love that we celebrate.

Here is the piece on Come to the Manger.

One servant received five talents. The second servant received two talents while the last servant received one talent. As a child, every time I would hear this story, I would always feel sorry for the servant who only received one talent.

Several years ago, however, I came across a new explanation of the parable which changed my perspective about the servant who only got one talent.

In the olden days, a “talent” was actually a coin. One talent was equivalent to 6,000 denarii (the plural form for denarius). A denarii was what an “unskilled laborer” would receive for a day’s work. Dividing 6,000 denarii with 365 days in a year therefore, assuming that the unskilled laborer, works every single day, one talent is roughly equivalent to pay for 16 and a half years of unskilled labor. Imagine getting pay for 16 and a half years without doing anything or just by being? Wouldn’t that be a big bonus? Is it any wonder now that the Master was so angry with the servant who just dug a hole and put that one talent in the ground? So, do you still feel sorry for the third servant?

If we translate the parable to modern-day Philippines, with a minimum wage of P404 a day at present, a talent (in those early days) would be like receiving about P2.4 million in one go just like that. Minimum wage of P404 multiplied by 365 days multiplied by 16.5 years. So, if someone were to hand you P2.4 million, out of the blue, one day, would you use it or just bury it in the ground?

Each person’s life is worth much more than P2.4 million. We have each received numerous gifts and talents from the Lord. If it seems crazy not to do anything with an amount of P2.4 million which we may receive, how much more if we do not use and develop the gifts and talents that have been bestowed on us? How many years have you been alive? Does God owe you any of those years?

Using the gifts and resources that we have at our disposal is the call of stewardship. We have all received talents from God, each according to one’s ability. We need to be responsible in using these gifts for as the parable goes towards the end: “…For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him…”

The basis of stewardship as a way of life is gratitude. We will have an attitude of gratitude if we recognize that everything we have is a gift from God and that nothing we have is ever really ours.

Each day brings us something to be grateful for. What are we grateful for? We are grateful for our family and loved ones. Our health. Our work. Our faith. We should also be grateful for our crosses and difficulties. To everything we have or don’t have in life, we must say “thank you.” There is a reason for everything. We experience certain situations as they will either be good for us or there will be a lesson, somehow, sometime.

Stewardship is about looking at our life in this world, not with the eyes of men but with eyes of faith. Doing so will allow us to be happy during pleasant times and will allow us to go from “crisis” to what “Christ sees” during difficult moments. Stewardship is about trusting in the Lord always.

“When drinking water, think of the source.” We receive a lot of things and blessings, day in, day out. Sometimes, we see things as too common or too routine that we don’t appreciate them as much as we should. Stewardship is being grateful for anything and everything. Stewardship is realizing that everything is grace and that we have to give thanks to our Lord, always and everywhere. Stewardship is finding God in all things.

While stewardship is about being grateful all the time, the constant challenge of stewardship is to live our lives in a way that will make our fellowmen feel gratitude too and make them realize that in their times of need and difficulty, the Lord is always near through the stewards that He sends their way.

“Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.” (Psalms 107:1)

One of my firm beliefs in life is that the concept of stewardship will change the way things are in our country and in the world. Stewardship is based on knowing that nothing we have is really ours and that all that we have is given to us to use and take care of for the good of others.

Election after election, presidential candidates assume office only to disappoint us in the end. Corruption is still a major problem, our countrymen leave their families to earn a decent salary in other countries, and a lot of Filipinos remain poor and uneducated. We are a country of highly intelligent, hard-working, and charming people; we are blessed with abundant natural resources but the way things are in this country leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Still, hope springs eternal and on May 10, 2010, you and I have it in our hands to choose the person who will lead us in the next six years. Hopefully, that person will be a steward. How can we tell if the president is a steward?

The person who will be president must be grateful. He must be grateful for the chance to lead this nation and like any other ordinary individual grateful for a gift, the gift of the presidency will be handled with great respect.

The person who will be president must be responsible. He must be capable of dispensing his duties as president in an organized and moral manner. He must use his talents and his unique gifts as an individual to improve the lot of his fellow Filipinos, particularly the last, the least, and the lost.

The person who will be president must be generous and must give back with increase. He must be generous with his time, talent, and his own treasure. He must not enrich himself while in office. He must give back to the people in terms of service. He must give back to this nation a sense of propriety, instill a culture of discipline and decency, and lead us all to be generous with our neighbors and to think of the good of others who may be beyond our circle of friends and family.

On May 10, 2010, I urge you to vote wisely. Remember also though that transformation and change do not lie with the leader or with the president alone. You must be a steward yourself as well. You must also be grateful, responsible, generous, and must give back to others with increase.

That is my dream — the Philippines as a nation of stewards. A nation acting as a loving and caring family. As Lilo and Stich say, no one gets left behind.

If you wish to read further on my take on choosing whom to vote for, please read The Vote to Right.

I suppose it was an indirect way of saying that as Christians or Catholics, it is everyone’s responsibility to evangelize. Bringing people closer to the Lord is a job or vocation that we all have. It is not reserved for priests or religious sisters.

For this coming Holy Week, April 1 to 3, 2010, I would like to gift one person with the chance to attend a Holy Week Triduum Retreat at the Ateneo de Manila University. This will be held at the Escaler Hall, Science Education Complex Building. Daily schedule from Holy Thursday to Black Saturday is from 7:30am to 12:30pm. Retreat Directors are the following: Fr. Miguel B. Lambino SJ, Fr. Victor C. de Jesus, SJ, and Fr. Arturo M. Borja, SJ.

Recollection fee per person for the three days is P1,200.00. If you would like to have the chance to attend the retreat for free, please leave a comment for this blogpost and complete the sentence (you may write more than one sentence): “I would like to attend this retreat because…”

I will shoulder the cost of the recollection fee for one person. If there are several people who leave a comment, or join the contest (there are other ways to join and to have the chance to win, as will be explained in my other website), I will choose the winner by seeing which answer or comment best connects with me.

I intend to choose the winner on March 23, 2010 and will announce the name shortly after that. Instructions will be given to the winner by e-mail or through my blogs.

If you would like to inquire about and make a reservation for the retreat but not join the contest, you may call Ida Solis at 426-6081 to 82.

I hope to hear from you.