By Catholic Stewardship Consultants
www.CatholicSteward.com
You’ve heard about the three T’s of stewardship, but what about the four P’s?
The three T’s — time, talent and treasure — describe the personal gifts we offer to the church. The four P’s are the “four pillars” of parish stewardship described by stewardship pioneer Msgr. Thomas McGread. They are the hallmarks of a stewardship parish — hospitality, prayer, formation and service.
Let’s take a look at each of them to understand how we can improve in each area.
Hospitality: Christian kindness
“When I was a stranger, you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35). The Gospel teaches that whenever we welcome the least of our brothers or sisters, we welcome Christ himself.
That is why the first mark of a stewardship parish is hospitality. Being friendly is one of the first ways that we can be Christ-like toward others.
Modern Catholic parishes are often so large and have so many Masses that parishioners don’t know one another. To create a sense of community, be sure to smile and greet others as you enter and exit the church. Let’s try harder than ever to be a welcoming community.
Prayer: Heart-to-heart with God
“Do not become so involved in the work of the Lord that you forget the Lord of the work,” a seminary professor once taught.
In other words, don’t get so caught up with parish projects and outreach efforts that you forget to draw aside to spend time with God in prayer.
Every great saint has taught that prayer is the most essential component in the life of the Christian. Through prayer, we nurture our most important relationship — the one that will last for all eternity.
A healthy prayer life should include communal prayer such as Mass, as well as personal prayer and family prayer. The two biggest obstacles to prayer are lack of time and lack of understanding of how to pray.
We have to schedule time for prayer just as we would for an important appointment. And we have to learn how to pray from other people.
Many saints have written spiritual books that describe different methods of prayer.
Formation: Continuous conversion
St. John Paul II always emphasized ongoing conversion. From childhood through adulthood, our whole life must be a process of drawing closer to God. He never stops calling us to learn more and to examine ourselves more deeply.
Very often our society values material things more than interior virtues. But as personal experience shows, when we finally acquire the car or house or “toy” that we wanted so badly, it doesn’t really satisfy.
On the other hand, we don’t tend to desire spiritual virtues with the same kind of longing, but when we actually have them, we find them far more rewarding than material things.
Service: Love in action
“Amen I say to you, whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).
This Scripture was one of St. Teresa of Kolkata’s favorites. Each time she picked up a poor and hungry child, she knew she was ministering to Christ.
While we may not view ourselves as saints, we too are called to such heroic service in our own community. As St. Teresa said, “To be a saint is not the privilege of a few, but the duty of everyone.”
We have many service opportunities within our own parishes. If you have the willingness to serve and take the initiative to find where you are needed, you’ll find that there is no end to the families and individuals who truly need help.
How can you reach out to “the least of my brothers” in love?
