Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   LOCAL FEATURES Friday, September 27, 2002 Stewardship speaker: It’s about gratitude and thanking God first By Elaine Polomsky Soos An 8-year-old girl who lost her father to cancer brought home the meaning of stewardship for Ed Laughlin one day, as she delivered to her parish community what he calls “the most powerful witness I ever heard.” The child’s message took all of 30 seconds: “This is what stewardship means to me. I miss my Dad, but because of all of you I’ve never been lonely.” Laughlin, the director of stewardship for the Diocese of Palm Beach, Fla., related the story at Diocesan Stewardship Day, Sept. 12 at Canfield St. Michael Parish. Stewardship, the speaker pointed out, is about having an attitude of gratefulness to God because “everything we have is from God.” The stewardship way of life is about being Christ to others – extending oneself to others, praying for others, and serving them by using one’s God-given time, abilities and material resources. A parish that can help people realize the extent of God’s unconditional love for them, will find that people want to give of themselves to the parish and to parish outreach, Laughlin suggested. Whether we are talking about sharing time and talent in a particular parish ministry or contributing to its Sunday collection, the sense of gratitude we have for God comes from spirituality – the relationship we have with God, Laughlin said. Giving back to God is modeling Jesus’ way of life; it is answering the Christian call to holiness. “The greatest example of stewardship is how you live your life, not the checks you write,” Laughlin said. A parish that emphasizes stewardship is always a praying parish, he said. Likewise, an individual who understands that stewardship is about wanting to thank God for all he has given us is always a praying person. Laughlin illustrated God’s gifts to humankind using the symbolism of 10 apples. Placing on a table in front of him one apple for each of the gifts God gave “the first couple” at creation, Laughlin proclaimed these gifts: life (the most basic of God’s free gifts); love (to give to others and also back to God); family (birth family, adult family and faith family), senses (to experience the world); nutrition (to be physically well); education (to gain knowledge, understanding and wisdom); security (knowing God is always with us); health (given in different degrees and requiring more of those who have been given the most); recreation (to enjoy the world); and charity (represented by the largest apple, to show that we will always have enough in life to also be able to share with others and that one of the ways to show gratitude to God is to return part of our gifts to him). Biting into this largest apple, Laughlin demonstrated, with irony, how the first couple savored it, ate it up, then left the core for God, “in gratitude for all the gifts they’d received.” “Stewardship is understanding that we are gifted, understanding that no matter how much we have there is always something we can share with others, and understanding that we need to share that first, before we do anything else with it,” the speaker said. “I’m an expert on stewardship because I’ve spent most of my life as a core giver, giving of my leftovers.” Until tragedy struck Laughlin’s family and he learned to thank God for God’s gifts each day, he didn’t realize that stewardship is all about putting God first, he said. Coming to an understanding of stewardship is a lifelong journey, the speaker said. He attributes his very happy marriage to stewardship, he said, because stewardship has taught him and his wife, April, to appreciate the “gift” they are to each other. April is the most cherished gift God has given him, he said. On Jan. 24, 1980, she would speak words to him that would cut to his heart and propel him into a deeper relationship with God. On that date, which Laughlin refers to as “our own personal Sept. 11th,” one of the couple’s four children was injured nearly fatally in an accident at the age of 2. With third-degree (open, bleeding) burns over 70 percent of his body, “all we could do was pray for Michael to live,” Laughlin said. April, terrified over their son’s condition and panicked because she had to leave the toddler’s bedside to go home and breast feed their infant daughter (who had been left with a babysitter), said sternly to her husband as she left the hospital, “You’ve never been good at praying but you’d better pray now.” “Suddenly there were only two things in my life – my son’s heartbeat and God,” Laughlin told his audience. After uttering every rote prayer he knew, Laughlin realized that his wife was right – he didn’t have much of a prayer life. He poured his heart out to God, asking him for “just one more beat” from the heart monitor – and then one more, and one more. Michael recovered after a three-month hospital stay and plastic surgery (through young adulthood he had 21 more related surgeries), and his father “learned that, in prayer, it’s not what you say but what you hear.” Laughlin learned to listen to God and found that God was there for him and his family, and he came to the deep and astounding realization that everything he had in life was given to him freely by God. When the Laughlins took Michael to church for the first time after he returned home from the hospital, they realized that they weren’t the only ones praying for his recovery; their faith community had also been praying. Laughlin said he “became a steward” because he realized that the Lord had blessed him with so many gifts, including his faith and his faith community. Quoting from Bishop Robert Morneau of Green Bay, Wisc., Laughlin extolled the virtues of parishes that encourage stewardship among their members. The “stewardship parish” has seven characteristics: Prayer – The parish presents as many opportunities as possible for both community and individual prayer and celebration of the sacraments. Hospitality – “All members, new and present, are welcomed and made to feel comfortable at all parish activities, including liturgies. All need a sense that they and their time and talents are valuable and that they are contributing members. The parish needs to present an image and a reality that they reach out to those in need.” Lay witness – “Personal witness by lay individuals, couples and families who have experienced the conversion of a stewardship way of life is essential to continue to build and maintain a parish foundation of stewardship.” Outreach – “Stewardship parishes and institutions, just like individuals, need to set aside a portion of what they have and what they receive for the needs and uses of the poor and charities – for other parishes, dioceses, and the [broader] Church as well. The more human interactions which result, the better.” Accountability – “Accountability is a fundamental aspect of good stewardship. There must be a known and visible commitment to account for the full range of parish activities and efforts which display the stewardship of what the parish has and does. All facets of the collection, management and use of gifts should be included. Renewal – “Stewardship is not a ‘program’ but a process, and it needs to be renewed on an annual basis at the very least. This provides people an opportunity to recommit, inform, form and transform on an individual and community basis. Stewardship committee – “A committee, council or group assigned the task of assuring the practice and ongoing renewal of stewardship as a way of life, is necessary. This committee organizes, identifies and provides formal gratitude to those who give of their time, talent and treasures.” Bishop Morneau has also written about “The Four Quadrants of Stewardship” – to follow faithfully, to live responsibly, to share gratefully, and to possess loosely. Laughlin said his daughter, Megan, provided a good example to him of “following faithfully” the teachings of the Catholic faith. When Megan was in high school, the Church was finally allowing girls to be altar servers, something she had hoped she could one day do. But as a teen-ager, Megan decided she didn’t want to serve with younger children. When her father asked her whether she felt cheated that her younger sister, Maureen, had the opportunity to serve at an earlier age, Megan said, no. She understood that the Church is slow to change and this was just part of reality. She was not going to let this situation affect negatively how she viewed the Church or participated in it.   Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Other Articles of 2002   Christmas letter from El Salvador missions thanks diocesan Catholics   Bishop shares views, discussion with Central students   ETC slates Christmas specials throughout the season   My Favorite Christmas Memories   Guidelines on religious ed homeschooling are issued   Local Catholic radio station targets Feb. 1 date   HMs end 98-years of service to Salem St. Paul Parish   Learn ‘language’ of young, youth meet speaker urges   Bishop Tobin: Meeting in D.C. on norms was ‘anxious, tense, difficult’   Priests must ask one another the tough questions, speaker says   Catholic death and funeral rites   Deacons mark 25th with Mass, dinner, memories   Diocesan Ministry Convocation Speaker: Global solidarity, not globalization, should be aim   Jusseaume inaugurated as sixth Walsh president   Diaconate marks 25th anniversary with Oct. 27 fete   New norms sent to priests, deacons on Communion under both kinds   Ashtabula parishes are ‘one Catholic community’   Jusseaume to become Walsh’s sixth president   Charismatic speaker: ‘Church being tested in faithfulness’   Lutheran/Catholic covenant event draws 140 to Walsh   Canton St. Joseph Parish observes centennial celebration   HMHP CEO Michael Rowan   Stewardship speaker: It’s about gratitude and thanking God first   Imagination is key to resolving crisis, priests told   War with Iraq? Expo readers opposed by 81-19%   Newspaper columns didn’t give complete story, official says   Diocesan Ministry Convocation set Oct. 26 at YSU’s Kilcawley   New year brings new faculty, changes at diocesan high schools   Mont St. Michel, Avignon’s papal palace are treasures   Preparing for the priesthood   Entering well-earned retirement, Sr. Marcella’s not slowing down   Warren St. Mary observes 100th year for church building   Lay Ministry Formation program attracting new audience   The cathedrals of France: Monuments of faith in stone   Executive summary of the ad hoc commission on athletics in diocesan high schools   ‘No widespread abuse’ found   Milburn leaving pro-life post to pursue grad studies   Return to France yields history, memories, surprises   Two new members appointed for Diocesan Finance Council   Former SS. C&M school razed, but memories remain   Pastor, 80, keeps busy with ‘lots of interests’   Ravenna IC boasts 5 high school valedictorians for ‘02   Humility Sister Sandy Pedone to profess perpetual vows July 21   NRLC convention filled with good news   ‘Capture the Romance’ is theme for NFP Week   Question of moral evil discussed at Walsh symposium   Notre Dame Sisters will celebrate jubilees July 14   ‘A great lady’ retires   Statement of Bishop Tobin on the meeting of the U. S. Conference   Haladej, Celuch ordained to priesthood, diaconate in Slovakia   Bishop plans implementation of norms on sexual abuse   Kevin McCaffrey, Robert Miller are newest priests   Theologian: ‘Behave toward others as though God were there’   Fr. 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