Christmas: A Stewardship Reflection on Abundance and Poverty

There’s no season quite so full of wild abundance as the Christmas season. Admit it, do you ever eat fudge or drink eggnog any other time of the year? Or expect a full grown tree to appear in your living room? It’s a joyful, exuberant time, full of music, family, parties, good food, and friends. But every Christian steward knows that there’s a shadow side to abundance, particularly material abundance, which brings with it challenges. Amid the joy of Christmas, a good steward ponders

these challenges. Speaking at a conference in Mexico City in November, Arch-bishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia spoke of poverty and abundance. He was not speaking about the holiday season, but his words might help us to keep a clear perspective on the values of this time of year. He cited the growing problem of poverty in the United States. One in six Americans now lives below the poverty line, and the archbishop noted how many other problems accompany poverty – “hunger, homelessness, street crime, domestic violence, unemployment, human trafficking.” Often the poor among us become invisible, and poverty becomes a scourge of civil society. “Poverty is an acid that destroys human kinship,” the archbishop said.

International Catholic Stewardship Council

CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIPe-Bulletin • December 2013

A STEWARDSHIP PRAYER for December

Come Lord Jesus! Make us good stewards of Advent. Strengthen our faith; calm our fears.

Come Lord Jesus! We hear John the Baptist’s cry. Open our hearts. Give us the humility to repent.

Come, Lord Jesus! Let us walk in your light! Show us how we prepare your way; and make straight your paths.

Come, Lord Jesus! We give you thanks and praise, for the shining star and angelic host, for Mary and Joseph, good stewards, both.

Come, Lord Jesus! We rejoice and are glad! For the Good News you bring And God’s glory you revealed.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Amen!

Despite the great spiritual significance of this feast, we can sometimes let the season become a

time of material excess.

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At the same time, Archbishop Cha-put also spoke to the flip side of this issue – the poverty that comes with abundance. “I mean the moral poverty that comes from an advanced culture relentlessly focused on consuming more of everything; a culture built on satisfying the self; a culture that runs on ignoring the needs of other people. That kind of poverty, as Mother Teresa saw so well, is very much alive in my country,” the archbishop said.

These are important words, not words that are meant to cast a “bah humbug” spell over the delightfulness of the Christmas season, but words that

help bring us back to the true meaning of Christmas in its joy and abundance. Despite the great spiritual significance of this feast, we can sometimes let the season become a time of material ex-cess. Christian stewards know that the true joy of Christmas is not tied in to the wealth of goods under the tree, but to the abundance of love and generos-ity that fill our hearts and spill out to others, especially those most in need of our generous spirit. The Christian steward knows how important it is to take time during Advent, and through-out this holiday season, for silence and stillness, to make room in our hearts for the child born into poverty who came to give us life and share it with all those whom we encounter.

Saint John Damascene, Doctor of the Church

John Damascene, also called John of Damascus, is one of the most influential Christian theologians in church history. His writings influenced many Christian intellectuals including Saint Thomas Aquinas. He is sometimes called the last of the Church Fathers.

Born in Damascus, Syria, to a wealthy Christian family in 657, John was well educated. He succeeded his father as chief financial administrator to the Muslim ruler of Damascus. But

heeding a call to religious life, John resigned his office and divided his wealth among his relatives, the Church, and the poor. He was received into a monastic community near Jerusalem, became a monk and was later ordained a priest.

John invested much of his time, energy, and considerable intellectual gifts contributing to the fields of law, theology, philosophy, and music. He wrote prodigiously on issues of faith and in defense of the doctrines of the Church. It has been said that John possessed a profound Catholic sacramental vision. “The one who seeks God continually will find him,” he wrote, “for God is in everything.”

In the early 8th century AD, a movement opposed to the veneration and public display of religious icons gained some acceptance by Christian emperors, and edicts were issued ordering the destruction of statues, and other representations of Christ, Mary, and the saints. John penned a pas-sionate defense of Christian artifacts in three separate publications that became popular among the Christian populace.

John’s spirited defense of the use of holy images was condemned by the pro-iconoclastic Christian emperors but they were unable to take any action against him, as they did other defenders of icons because, ironical-ly, John lived under the protection of Muslim rule. His writings would later play an important role and prove persuasive during the Second Council of Nicaea, which was convened to settle the dispute over religious artifacts.

Saint John Damascene died at his monastery in approximately 749, and in1890 he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII. His feast day is December 4.

STEWARDSHIP SAINT FOR DECEMBERcontinued from previous page

Giving at Christmas As we enter these hope-filled and joy-ous seasons of Advent and Christmas, our own sense of gratitude leads us to a heightened empathy with the many who struggle during this time, their hardship made all the more difficult for them as they see the wealth around them. As our economy gradually improves, the fact is that for millions of people, things are not getting better. Most of us are aware that cuts in the U.S. Supplemental Nu-trition Assistance Program – SNAP – went into effect November 1. Since then, charitable food banks and pantries have seen a growing demand to assist the nearly 48 million Americans on SNAP who have experienced these cuts.

Many of those affected by cutbacks in the government food program are children. At the same time, the Na-tional Center for Homeless Education reports there are 12 million homeless children in K-12th grade classrooms in America, and that despite improve-ments in the economy, this figure has gotten worse in 41 states. These are just two examples of the continuing and growing blight of poverty. Home-

lessness and hunger are not the legacy Christian stewards want to bestow on our nation’s children, nor on hungry children in nations throughout the world.

During the Christmas season, it’s especially important to remember our com-mitment to a Lord who comes to bring Good News to the poor. It can be tempt-ing to neglect charitable giving as we focus on family gift-giving and the added expenses of the season. But as Christian stewards, we know that this is precisely the time when sacrifice for others expresses our gratitude for the sacrificial gift of Christ to the world. What can we do?

• Make a generous donation to an agency that distributes food such as your local food bank.

• Ask your parish, or local Catholic Charities, how you can assist a family who may need help at Christmas.

• Take the opportunity to educate your children about poverty, and help them to participate in giving trees and food drives at school. Whenever possible, help them to connect personally by assisting at shelters and food kitchens. Discuss with your family how you might sacrificially limit spending on certain items in an effort to share more generously with those in need in your community.

• Explore how you can help address issues of poverty legislatively and practically by visiting the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Homelessness and hunger are not the legacy Christian stewards want to bestow on our nation’s children, nor on

hungry children in nations throughout the world.

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With all the giving that will be taking place this month I felt it an opportune occasion to reflect on the virtue of generosity – one of the hallmarks of Christian stewardship. Authentic generosity is born out of the virtue of gratitude, and we in North America certainly have much for which to be grateful. In fact, we do well to always and everywhere give thanks to God, because all that we possess is his gift. When we are grateful to God we are inspired to give, not out of a sense of obligation or duty, but because giving is one way we can say thank you to God.

For generosity to be authentic it needs to be sacrificial and at the same time joyful. We need to give up something! Giving what we do not need is nice; but, it is not necessarily being generous. Sacrifice means that we give out of our own need and not simply from what is left over. When we sacrifice it makes the generous act more joyful because by saying no to something that we need or want, we are able to say yes to the greater good. There is nothing more life-giving than knowing that someone less fortunate is benefiting from your sacrifice. Whether you are giving your time or money, when the virtue of gratitude is behind the gift, the spirit of joy will naturally accompany the generous act. Joy makes the generous act mutually beneficial – joy shared is joy multiplied. Without joy, neither the giver nor the one receiving the gift will experience any benefit. Imagine giving, but doing it reluctantly or under compulsion; you would not be very motivated because there is no joy there. Joy is found inside an attitude of gratitude.

A simple formula for authentic generosity could be – share ten percent, save ten percent, spend eighty percent, in that order. I call it the 10-10-80 lifestyle. When we live well within our means we cultivate an acute awareness of our abundant blessings and this creates the desire, and the confidence, to share our gifts with authentic generosity. In gratitude our generosity is then rooted in our needing to give rather than giving to a need.

This article is part six in a series of 12 reflections on stewardship virtues by ICSC member, Dan Potvin, Director of Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, Canada.

There is nothing more life-giving than knowing that someone less fortunate is benefiting

from your sacrifice.

GENEROSITY

First Sunday of Advent Weekend of November 30/ December 1, 2013

On this first Sunday of Advent Jesus urges his disciples to stay awake and prepare themselves for the Lord’s coming. Good stewards prepare themselves and await Christ’s judgment in joyous expectation. This attitude requires genuine spiritual ma-turity, of course; the kind that is cultivated by prayer, partici-pation in the sacraments, loving attention to family and one’s communion of faith, and love for one’s neighbor. Are we pre-pared for the Lord’s second coming? Are we ready to receive Christ? Are we ready to look joyously for Christ’s judgment?

Second Sunday of Advent Weekend of December 7/8, 2013

In today’s Gospel reading John the Baptist warns his listeners: “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” The Church’s yearly Advent herald is a call to repentance. The season of Advent urges us to be open to a conversion of heart. Christian stewards heed this call daily, and take the need for conversion in their lives seriously. As a family of faith, do we hear this call to conversion amidst the massive holiday spending? The in-crease in credit card debt? The urge to buy things that are not necessary? The incivility on the roadways during the holidays? Are there patterns in our own lives that need to be converted?

Third Sunday of Advent Weekend of December 14/15, 2013

From the loneliness of his prison cell John the Baptist asks of Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” The weeks before Christmas offer much to be joy-ous about, celebrating with family and friends, the glitter of seasonal decorations, the excitement of gift giving and receiv-ing. But in our midst there are the lonely and neglected, the poor, the hospitalized, the wayward, the shut-ins. There are those seemingly without hope. To whom should they look? Discipleship in the Lord includes being good stewards of others. Are there those in our family, our neighborhood, our community to whom we can reach out to show them a sign of Christ’s presence in their midst?

A STEWARDSHIP MOMENT

Fourth Sunday of Advent Weekend of December 21/22, 2013

In today’s Gospel we hear of the coming of Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” We celebrate three Advents: the birth of Christ, his Second Coming, and his presence in the world today. Our daily lives are attended by God’s presence. Indeed, “God is with us.” The Good News of Christ’s Incarnation is that we are the sign, “sacrament,” of Christ’s presence in the world. People are supposed to see us, see how we love one another, see how we treat the stranger among us, give comfort to the poor and afflicted, share the Good News with joy. They see how good stewards are the light of Christ. And there can be no possible response except to say: “God is here!”

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) December 25, 2013

Amidst the beautiful Christmas readings at today’s Masses is a reading from a small New Testament letter from Saint Paul to his protégé, Titus, read at Midnight Mass. Saint Paul reminds Titus that God has given us a gift in the person of Jesus Christ. This gift represents God’s active presence in our lives and in our world. This gift redeems us from evil and death. This gift purifies us as God’s people. This is a gift that also comes with an expectation: that we receive it with thanksgiving, allow it to transform us into Christ’s image; and from it, learn how to live a life “eager to do what is good.” Take time the next few days to reflect on the marvelous gift we celebrate at Christ-mas, and how we might become better stewards of this gift.

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Weekend of December 28/29, 2013

In today’s second reading we listen to one of the most com-pelling exhortations for Christian living: “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Je-sus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:17). “Whatever you do”---that means the whole of life is to be related to Christ Jesus. Everything in life, every activity, can become an act of glorifying the Lord. Good stewards commit even their daily routine to Christ: doing everything “in the name of the Lord.” Perhaps it would be a good idea this week to memorize this marvelous verse and repeat it to yourself frequently. Make it part of your morning prayer each day.