October 20, 2004

I love to think about the big picture. Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing, learning, etc...? I find that this helps me make sense of the little pictures which make up my day to day. The readings at Mass today point out a fundamental truth: We are stewards in this life. Everything we have, everything we are, is on loan from the real owner, God (see Romans 14:7-9).

Imagine loaning the use of your car to a friend. What if your friend trashed the car and got angry when you asked him to return it, as if it was his car all along! Many people live their lives in just such a way. I did not make me. I am not my own. I breathe God’s air, eat God’s food, enjoy God’s sun and the list goes on and on. I am merely a steward. I have been entrusted with many precious things; my very life is the first.

As stewards, we will give an account. Remember the reaction of Lord Denethor, the steward of Gondor, when Aragorn the true King returned to claim his throne (The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King). Tolkien has given us a great lesson here. Denethor did not want to turn over the throne to the rightful king! How often I have treated Jesus, my true King, in just this way! If Jesus is to sit on the throne in the center of my heart, I myself must get off of it. We are told today, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more” (Luke 12:48). There are many days when I do not feel like being faithful. The big picture of my stewardship encourages me, like St. Francis, to begin again. St. Crispin of Viterbo prayed, “Lord Jesus, take my heart and never give it back!”

Let us pray for each other,

Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
Vocations Director, St. Joseph Friary, New York
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