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)

I hope that this essay will touch you in the same way that it has touched me. May it make us realize that gratefulness and giving are part and parcel of stewardship as a way of life. Here goes:

“Lately, I’ve been thinking about “giving”. My first admonition about it, once again, comes from my mother: “God loves a cheerful giver.” She would dispense this line whenever I would give because there was no longer any choice and I would display my generosity with a frown, a pout or “dabog.” She would stop me in mid-act and remind me that if one was to give, one was to give, not out of guilt or anger, but out of true generosity.

Like many things my mother has told me (such as this line: sufficient for the day is the evil thereof), the syntax, the sentence construction, its depth would elude me and meaning and relevance would come much later. Today when either of the children give with rancor in their heart, their feet and faces heavy, I stop them too and give the same admonition: God loves a cheerful giver. And truly, when the day is endless and every thing I have done and not done has not changed anything, I whisper to myself “sufficient for the day is the evil thereof” loving the profound syntax of it.

My parents were good givers, in every sense of that word. Maybe it’s old world charm? I understand now that they gave from two different positions of heart. My father gave because everyone had given so much to him, a poor farmer’s child, who grew up in the mountains of Bukidnon, his life laid out before him, that future he saw in fear and trepidation. He knew he was meant for greater things but the mountains stood in his way. How providential that he would be “saved” from such a fate by the pure generosity of others. And so he gave from that spirit; from the belief he too could save others because of his own generosity. My whole life is a parade of memories of people coming to the house pleading for my father’s generosity, for his ability to change people’s destinies.

My mother gave because it was expected of her – of her class and lineage. Growing up in a home filled with people who served her, her own parents told her to always be grateful, to never take things for granted; to know that her life was a kind of reciprocal endeavor. You took care of your people forever. It is damn feudal but watching it from where I am as daughter, there is a beauty to it that cannot be denied.

My parents lived the Bible almost literally. They truly believed that wealth was not to be hoarded. They truly believed that wealth came specifically to those who knew how to use money to create a better Kingdom. Even when they were poor, they could still give beyond measure. And yes, they did it with a cheerfulness that could not be faked. Because I am certain that God does not like a fake giver either.

What about me? What kind of a giver am I? I do not have my parent’s wealth, in spite what people might think of me. But I have their spirit in me. In fact, to a fault, for I do not know how to take or receive.

My parents were bad at that too. An act of kindness for them was almost unbelievable. My father would cry and shake his head, so worthless in his own eyes to be surprised or given to. It was the smallest things that moved him most. French toast made by his daughters for his birthday or an extra serving of fried chicken at Christmas. He loved receiving gadgets: plugs, wires, and such. He could never shake off his sense of wonder at how his fate changed so extremely, which was why it was the small stuff that rocked his world.

Until today when anyone gives anything to my mother, her first response is to give it away. I used to think it was Machiavellian, but actually it is something else. Beautiful things were considered never for herself. One of her other lines: masyado namang maganda para sa akin. And I guess I must have learned this too.

My days are filled with giving both consciously and unconsciously I’ve noticed, like first nature, rather than second. I am prone to give away as soon as someone mentions something they like that I have. You like my bracelet? Here it is yours! My notebook, here it is yours! My blouse, here it is yours! The joy I feel my mother would be proud of. I am both cheerful and genuine.

But I must admit, I still have much to learn in this area of love. I think it is difficult for me to receive because of the necessary letting go it entails. As giver, you are main mover, source of being and there is power. But to receive is to come from a different position – it is to hand over power to someone else. It is an ability to be truly surprised. It is an ability to allow someone else to do the giving which is very hard having been taught that giving is better. Were we not taught that line, “it is better to give than to receive?”

Maybe this too mirrors my relationship with Christ. My acts of generosity allow me to focus on myself and not on the silent things thrown my way by the Original Giver. A powerful psyche is a dangerous thing, I must say. I need to learn how to see things and movements and random acts as gifts FOR me and not from me. I am not generous or giving because I am. I am generous and giving because He is generous and giving to me. I can only give because I receive-to truly live that out is a great and worthy challenge. That requires more than cheerfulness and more than authenticity. It requires humility.

Perhaps this too is something you share with me? Perhaps we all need to see that things in our domain, or our ownership, and our very acts of giving, the freedom we have to give, not as ours and ours alone, but given to us. What would happen if every concert, every solo, every spiel, every movement were seen not only as giving but also as receiving? Would it be possible that we would be able to give more?

My mother it turns out, much to my chagrin, is once again right. Even as a young child, she used to say this to me all the time: Gratefulness Rica. Above all, gratefulness.”

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!

He began by reflecting on why the Lenten season began with Ash Wednesday, Wednesday being a half-way point during the week. He thought it was apt to start Lent somewhere in the middle since Lent is a time for remembering, for re-examining our lives based on what we have done. It is a time for re-starting; for re-booting since too often, people almost always find themselves in the “middle of things” given our very busy lives.

He then went on to say that Lent demands humility – for we must accept that we have all made mistakes. Lent demands that we fight inertia — because often, it is difficult to change for the better. (O, ba’t siya biglang nagbago? Ano ang nakain niya? or What led to the sudden change? What has he eaten?) But always, Lent gives us hope because it is never too late to change; it is never to late to make a choice. Lent asks us: “Where will you go?” Then Fr. Francis reminded all of us that our God is the God of second, third, fourth…chances.

As a young priest, Fr. Francis narrated that one of the most difficult parts of the Eucharist for him is when he “breaks the Body of Christ.” He asks himself the question: “Why does Christ allow Himself to be broken?” In his reflection, the answer to his question comes: “So that when we are broken, we know that we are not alone.”

He then went on to tell the boys that: “I hope you get tested. I hope you enter into difficulty. I hope you experience failure. And when you are broken, I hope you remember and cling to the God that you met in 1-A.”

I am sure that we have all met God at some time in our individual lives. May the coming Holy Week allow us to have time to reflect on God’s great love for us. When we are tested; when we each enter into difficulty, when we experience failure, I hope that we will also remember the God we met and meet several times over and cling to the glory of the Cross.

Before the mass ended, Fr. Francis shared a personal story about how when he was young, all he wanted to be was to be richer than his dad. He then talked about his godfather who was so rich, that when Fr. Francis (as a child) and his dad would go visit his godfather, they would marvel at how big his godfather’s house was. It was so big that from the front gate, the driveway was so long that Fr. Francis could not see the front door. His godfather also had a pond, with swans, in the Philippines! The sight had such an impact on Fr. Francis that he dreamed of having a similar place, where you can’t see the front door from the front gate and where he would have a pond with swans too.

He ended his story by saying: “So, did I achieve my dream of becoming richer than my dad? I don’t know. But now I live at the Ateneo and from Gate 2…” (the audience who are listening to his story start to react and clap at this point) “…you cannot see my front door. And instead of swans, there’s a blue eagle…”

What’s the moral lesson of the story? Sometimes, we have a different plan from what God wants for us. We each have a choice though on how we will respond to God’s plan for us. This Lent, may you be brought closer to God’s great plan for you. And when you do enter into life’s difficulties (as there always will be), please remember Jesus on His cross and that you are never alone. After the suffering of Good Friday, comes the glory and joy of Easter Sunday. God bless.

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)