In the last week or so one of our first graders went to her scout group in her neighborhood right after school. Since she didn’t have time to go home and change her clothes, she went to the scout group in her school uniform. Another first grader, but not from our school, looked at her Catholic school uniform and said, “You believe in God?” Our first grader said, “Yes, of course.” The other little girl said, “Oh, belief in God is all made up. It’s not true.” Our first grader said, “You don’t believe in God? Look at all the beauty. Where do you think it all came from?”
Our first grader’s response was perfect. But my question is this: where does the other little girl get such a jaded opinion at 6 years of age that God does not exist?
What we think has a profound effect on what we say. And what we say has a profound effect on the people in our lives, especially on children. For that non-believing 6 year old to be cynical about belief in God shows how powerful the opinions and attitudes of parents are on their children.
On this second Sunday of our stewardship season, let’s take a good look today at being good stewards of our minds and the way we think.
We see in today’s gospel an example of ambitious thinking playing itself out in what is clearly some exaggerated egoism going on in James and John. James and John were already part of Jesus’ select group of 12 apostles, and they were already 2 of the 3 apostles that Jesus took with him on special missions, like the raising of the dead girl back to life, and the privileged moment of witnessing the Transfiguration, to mention just 2 indicators of their being within Jesus’ inner circle. And now they want more?! They want to one to be at his right hand and the other to be at his left hand when Jesus comes into his power.
This ambition was not yet checked by a good stewardship of the mind, on the part of James and John. Words flowed from their unchecked thinking to bring about an indignant reaction from the other apostles.
Good stewardship begins by developing a good sense of humility so that we recognize the many faces of pride that can capture our thoughts and warp our souls. Whenever we get into an exaggerated sense of dependence on self, whenever we exert our own self-importance, whenever we feel hurt or angry over perceived slights, whenever we worry about what others think about us, whenever we refuse to obey lawful authority, we are failing in good stewardship.
The most profound example of good stewardship is Jesus Himself. His humility led him to lower himself from divinity to be a human being and then to pour out his life for us. Clearly Jesus teaches us today that humility is not a halfway proposition. It’s a complete emptying of self, to be a servant to others, to see that being the first or most important is even to be the slave of others.
Today, then, let us ask the Lord to help us grow as good stewards by bringing to our minds the many opportunities we have every day to exercise servant leadership. Let’s ask the Lord to teach us how to monitor what we say, especially around children, so they not become cynical by the early age of 6. Let’s ask the Lord to teach us how we can learn the skill of choosing to let others shine in conversation while remaining more in the background. Let’s ask Him to teach us how to accept criticism without being defensive. Let’s ask Him to teach us how to volunteer for the less noble tasks around the parish. And let’s ask Him to teach us how to train other volunteers to be capable to take on leadership positions, and even let them step in when they are fully trained. All of these are ways to practice humility and good stewardship at the same time.
Next weekend, we will take a closer look at how we can become good stewards of our parish community, how we can better care for each other, and how we can do so as humble servants of the Lord.
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