07/12/2022
Stewardship: A call to conversion
- Bishop Broderick Pabillo
In the Philippines we have been looking up to the year 2021 since 2013 when we started the 9-year preparation for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the coming of the Christian faith in our shores. We have taken particular themes for each year based on the pastoral priorities of the Philippine Church identified by the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (P*P II) in 1991. Now we are in the last stretch of these years of preparation. Within the novena of years, starting this year we are in the triduum – the last three years of preparation for 2021. This calls for intense work of evangelization. We hope that the Philippines become more Christian by 2021, our response to the Lord for the gift of faith. This means more and deeper awareness of the faith on the part of more Filipinos, more lively services to the poor, a more active participation in the life of Church, and more missionary zeal to the people who have not yet known the faith, many of whom are in our neighboring countries.
There are many initiatives done by many groups in the church to bring this about. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) tries to coordinate these, but can anyone coordinate the work of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God blows wherever it wills. We believe that this work of greater evangelization is Spirit-led. So we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit.
The word STEWARDSHIP is used in the P*P II document but its use has been limited to the stewardship of creation. However, since the year 2000 stewardship as a concept and as a program is becoming mainstream in the practice of the faith. Not that it did not exist before. It has always been there, attested by the fact that there are many references to it in the Bible itself. Our consciousness of it, however, has been sharpened in the last 15 years, at least here in the Philippines. We thank the Social Pastoral Institute (SPI), then headed by Bishop Julio Labayen, with the support of the St. Thomas More Parish of Denver, that several conferences on stewardship had been offered to the bishops of the CBCP and to many priests and lay leaders all these years, with the aim in mind of supporting the Church of the Poor and living the life of discipleship.
“Stewardship: a Disciple’s Response” is the title of the pastoral letter written by the US Bishops’ Conference in 1992. As Christians we not only believe in God. We believe in a God who so loves us that he sent his Only Son to save us and has given us of His Spirit to guide and strengthen us. We recognize his great love for us. Salvation is not just spiritual. It is fullness of life. Recognizing this we cannot but be grateful. Gratitude is then the basic attitude of a Christian in life. This is why the primary worship of us Catholics is the Eucharist, which is thanksgiving for the gift of salvation. Gratitude is not only recognition of the gift. If we are truly grateful we take care of all the gifts given to us. We take care of it by not allowing it to be wasted but by maximizing its use and by developing it. We are gifted that we may also gift others. This is the theme of our 2021 celebration: GIFTED TO GIVE. We believe that every grace is not only a privilege but also a responsibility.
We share this gift, not only by the virtue of charity but first and foremost by the virtue of justice. Others have a right to the gift given to one because every gift is a gift to all. The Catechism for the Catholic Church states: “In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race.” (CCC 2402) Recognizing that we are gifted so much, we cannot but be more trustful in such a loving and provident God. Because we trust, we become more generous in sharing the gifts received. So we become more generous with our time, with our knowledge, with our talents, with our material resources, and with our very life in general. Therefore, our response to God’s goodness to us is greater generosity in sharing. We are told in the Bible: “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10)
All of these teachings are beautifully summarized in the US document on stewardship: “As Christian stewards, we receive God’s gift gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them in loving justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.”
All of the above is beautiful teaching and is basic Christian doctrine. It touches on ideas of grace, gratitude, trust, generosity, love, and responsibility or accountability to the source of all goodness. However, in our experience in SPI in promoting the spirituality of stewardship in the last 15 years, we do not find it smooth sailing selling stewardship even to lay leaders, priests and bishops. What seems to be the problem? There are many problems, not so much to its acceptance but to its practice. The call of Pope Francis in his encyclical Evangelii Gaudium hits the nail on its head: “Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: “We have always done it this way”. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities.” (EG 33)
We need to move out from the maintenance mode to the missionary mode. In a word we need CONVERSION! Conversion or change is always difficult for all, even for priests and bishops who preach it. It means abandoning the usual path and seeking out new ways. It means going away from the familiar and from our comfort zones. The paradox is, each one wants to be better without leaving he old ways.
Let me illustrate this with the move to do away with the arancel system in the Philippine Church. Arancel is the fixed rate attached the services rendered in the Church. It has been a way of supporting the Church for the past four hundred years. The faithful who received a particular service has to pay certain amount, say 300 pesos per baptism, 700 pesos for funeral services, one thousand pesos for wedding, etc. There is a decree in P*P II that says: “Tithing, after a good pastoral catechesis, shall be introduced with the end in view of the gradual abolition of the Arancel System.” (Article 118) What is the reason for this decree?
Many get the impression that the services of the church are for sale because of the amount attached to it.
Many poor are kept away or shy away from receiving the services of the Church because of the amount attached
People perceive favoritism towards the rich because they have the means to pay.
This system is open to many abuses and misperception.
P*P II was 28 years ago but this simple mandate has not yet been implemented in the majority of our dioceses and parishes. Thus many people give the ready answer when asked why they are not married in church or why their children are not yet baptized – we do not have money for it! Thus there are threats from several BIR secretaries to tax the church because it lives on incomes because of the fixed rate we put on our services. Thus in have our present president ranting against the church for selling its services.
To be fair, there had been past attempts to implement this mandate of P*P II. A commission was form in the past under Bishop Mondejar to promote the tithing or the pledging system in several dioceses. Some parish priests had on their own done away with the arancel, to be brought back again by the succeeding parish priests. SPI has been working to introduce the Spirituality of Stewardship in some parishes and dioceses, with varying success.
The problem: the lack of political will and the church institutions still running on the maintenance mode. We had always been doing it this way. If it still works, why fix it? But does it still work? With more than 60% of our Catholics unchurched – that is more than 50 million in absolute number – does it still work? With the vast majority of our Catholics staying together without the benefit of the sacrament of matrimony – does it still work? With many formation programs and charity programs undone because of lack of personnel and material resources – does it still work? With the Catholics in all Christian groups who give the least to support their Church – does it still work?
The spirituality of stewardship will do a lot to bring the church into a missionary mode. It will deepen the Christian identity of all. We will be made to understand that everyone one of us is just a steward, not the owners, of our life, of our talents, of our time, of our vocation, of our positions in the Church, and of our material resources. Being stewards we took up at the owner and get directions from him how we are to use, develop and share what he has given us. We know that as stewards we will be accountable to him and to the community in which we exercise this stewardship. Hence The spirituality promotes transparency and responsibility in our use of resources, including material resources. Thus priests and bishops should no longer see the money in the church as their money. So they will not hesitate to be transparent to the responsible members of their communities about the resources – or lack of it – of the church. The Spirituality of Stewardship promotes gratitude and trust in God, the provident Father. He has not failed us and he will not fail us his children, his church, his ministers. Besides we are not asked to give in such a way that we are impoverished. We give to relieve the burden of others. Thus St. Paul wrote: “For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have; not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality your surplus at the present time should supply their needs, so that their surplus may also supply your needs, that there may be equality.” (2 Cor 8:12-14)
Stewardship will also promote greater collaborative action in the Church. Each of us is steward of the Church. So we take care of it and provide for its needs so that that it can do its work. A parish priest in Manila who promoted the spirituality of stewardship a year ago and did away with the arancel system got an unexpected boost when he noticed a old lady who is a vendor in the market regularly giving 500 pesos a month to the stewardship program. He approached her to thank her and to inquire on the reason of her generosity. She matter-of-factly replied. “Father I try to give my share so that the Church can do its work of baptizing people, catechizing them and doing services to people who are in need.”
We ask the people to be more generous with their time in praying, in serving others, in growing in the faith and in helping others. Is this not the reason for evangelizing – the people should love God and neighbor more fully? Stewardship promotes this culture of generosity because this is the will of the God-Owner for his gifts to us – that we share. In fact we are blessed abundantly not primarily that we may have more but that others may be blessed through us. Scripture tell us “God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Cor 9:8)
We all know that Filipinos are very generous. It is within our genes. We are especially generous when we see that what we given a properly used. The church will never lack resources and people who will help when they see that the church has does its work well – good liturgies, clean churches and clean church surroundings, good music, good homilies – and has programs for the poor and the formation of people.
Thus to successfully implement the taking away of the arancel
we need deep and constant teaching on the spirituality of stewardship,
transparency and proper manage of Church resources
better programs and services of the Church.
We promote stewardship not as a means to fund raising. We are engaged in stewardship in order to bring about renewal in the church. It is a means of evangelizing. It should promote deeper spirituality by making Christians more grateful to God by appreciating his gifts, it promotes greater generosity in sharing because we trust that God provides, it makes us more responsible for the opportunities and positions we exercise in our life, and it should create a deeper belonging and participation in the Church.
There is a particular perspective, though, why SPI introduced the Spirituality of Stewardship in the Philippines in partnership with the St. Thomas More Parish of Denver. SPI was founded by Bishop Julio Labayen with some religious and lay people to promote the Church of the Poor. It was meant to answer the need for a more systematic educational program among Church people to develop a critical consciousness in favor of the grassroots. Note that this was three before P*P II when finally the whole Church embraced the Church of the Poor as a way of renewal for the Church of the Philippines. Recently Pope Francis affirmed our program to be a Church of the Poor when he openly said several times: “I want a Church that is poor and a Church that is for the poor.” Now, SPI introduced and promotes the Spirituality of Stewardship in order to support the Church of the Poor.
Being conscious that we are all stewards, everybody will feel responsible for each other and use their resources to support one another and not just for their own selfish and individualistic consumption. They will give more of their time to pray and to serve their neighbors. They will be more open to use their talents for the community. They will give regular support to their community so that it can do its work of reaching out to those who are in need. So stewardship will build up and sustain the Church of the Poor. With more people involved and with more contributions in terms talent and treasure, more services can be programmed to reach out to the poor and those in the peripheries.
Has this happened? It has been experienced in the past 10 years that the connection between stewardship and Church of the Poor is not automatic. It has happened that because a parish has embraced and promoted stewardship, its human and material resources have indeed increased. Where are the resources spent? They beautified their altars; they build new parish structures; there are now more perks for the parish priests and the lay leaders. What about reaching out to the poor? What about greater formation for the people? What about livelihood and scholarships for the BECs and the catechists? If renewal is to be done it should be a renewal that the Church of the Poor calls, which P*P II had already defined. The Church of the Poor is:
● a Church which embraces and practices the spirit of evangelical poverty; this combines detachment from possessions with profound trust in the Lord. It means simplicity of life.
● a Church which does not discriminate against the poor, but vindicates their rights .
● a Church which gives preferential attention and time for the poor. Pope Francis wrote: “Our preferential option for the poor must mainly translate into a privileged and preferential religious care.” (Evangelii Gaudium 200)
● a Church that has pastors and leaders who will learn to be with, work with, and learn from, the poor.
● a Church that not only evangelizes the poor, but recognizes that the poor will themselves become evangelizers.
● a Church that orients and tilts the center of gravity of the entire parish, school, or religious community in favor of the needy.
The conversion that stewardship calls for is not just peripheral. Put together with the Church of the Poor it brings about radical change in the way we live as Church. No wonder there is much hesitancy in embracing it. We need to be converted to be more sharing – among ourselves, and not to consider our resources as ours (individually, as a religious community, as a parish, as a diocese), and to be more sharing with those who have none, and there are so many of them in the Philippines. This conversion is a call to all!
