The Cost of Discipleship
U.S. Bishops' Pastoral on Stewardship
by Jeff Ziegler

"The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, 'Follow me'" (Jn. 1:43).

In his first encyclical letter, Pope John Paul II applied this passage of the Gospel not only to those called to the priesthood or the religious life, but also to every member of the Church (Redemptor Hominis, no. 21). Every Christian, from the newly baptized infant to the Holy Father, is a Christian because of Christ's mysterious, gratuitous call to discipleship. "You did not choose me, but I chose you" (Jn. 15:16).

Our Lord taught that an important aspect of discipleship is stewardship (cf. Mt. 24:45-51). In 1989, the U. S. bishops requested the drafting of a pastoral letter on stewardship, and in November 1992 approved the publication of Stewardship: A Disciple's Response (SADR). This 44-page pastoral letter, rooted in Sacred Scripture, the documents of the Vatican II, and the teaching of Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, is spiritual reading that merits thoughtful, prayerful application by Catholics in the United States.

Free, but Expensive

The bishops begin their pastoral letter by outlining three fundamental convictions. First, disciples should choose to be and act as followers of Jesus Christ, whatever the cost may be. Second, this commitment of discipleship does not consist in one action or in a series of actions, but in entrusting themselves to the Lord moment by moment, day by day. Third, stewardship leads Christians to recognize God as the origin of life, the giver of freedom, the source of all they have and are and will be. . . . They know themselves to be recipients and caretakers of God's many gifts. They are grateful for what they have received and eager to cultivate their gifts out of love for God and one another (p. 1).

The bishops recognize that the dominant secular culture, with its tendency to make faith a private matter, makes stewardship a challenge. Stewardship, however, is a serious duty. It is a consequence of the faith which Catholics profess and celebrate. This pastoral letter initiates a long-term, continuing process encouraging people to examine and interiorize stewardship's implications. At the start of this process it is important to lay out a comprehensive view of stewardship-a vision of a sharing, generous, accountable way of life rooted in Christian discipleship-which people can take to heart and apply to the circumstances of their lives (pp. 4-5).

Get a Life

The first and overarching part of this vision is the call to be a disciple of Jesus.

The Christian vocation is essentially a call to be a disciple of Jesus. Stewardship is part of that. Even more to the point, however, Christians are called to be good stewards of the personal vocations they receive. Each of us must discern, accept, and live out joyfully and generously the commitments, responsibilities, and roles to which God calls him or her (p. 11).

Our discipleship is a sham if we do not, through grace, become stewards of our personal vocations by fulfilling the duties of our state of life. For the majority of Christians, this personal vocation is the call to be a married layman, whose mission Pope John Paul II lays out in his apostolic exhortations Christifideles Laici and Familiaris Consortio-a demanding, joyful life of prayer, charity, apostolate, sanctification of the temporal order, and openness to the gift of human life. The bishops note that this living out of our vocation and mission requires ongoing conversion and can be personally demanding (cf. pp. 14-15).

Learn the Script

The second part of the pastoral letter describes Jesus as "the supreme teacher of Christian stewardship" (p. 19), both in word and example. He is the supreme model of stewardship because His food was to do His Father's will (cf. Jn. 4:34). At times, He compares the life of His disciples to that of a steward. He also speaks of everlasting life as the steward's reward. In this context, the bishops urge us to take to heart the beginning words of St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises:

[Men are] created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save their souls. The other things on the face of the earth are created for them to help them in attaining the end for which they are created. Hence they are to make use of these things in as far as they help them in the attainment of their end, and they must rid themselves of them in as far as they provide a hindrance to them. . . . Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created (pp. 20-21).

Play a Part

In the third section, the bishops discuss stewardship as a participation in God's creative and redemptive activity. Because man is created in the image of God the Creator, we are called to be co-creators. Collaborating in creation entails revering God's gift of life, appreciating the world He created, and cultivating creation through human work, which is not a consequence of the Fall but part of God's original plan for humanity (cf. Gen. 2:15).

Christians are also called to be co-redeemers who collaborate in the redemption of the world by participating, through grace, in Christ's priestly office (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9) and by uniting their sufferings to those of Christ. In this context, the bishops recommend family prayer, Scripture reading, attendance at weekday Mass, and visits to the Blessed Sacrament as ways in which lay people participate in Christ's priesthood (cf. p. 28).

Christians also exercise stewardship when they lead a penitential life of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Penance enables us to be cleansed of the effects of the sins that prevent us from becoming all God wills us to be. "Thus, the stewardship of disciples is not reducible only to one task or another. It involves embracing, cultivating, enjoying, sharing-and sometimes also giving up-the goods of human life" (p. 29).

Audience Participation

Christians are called to be "stewards of the Church" (Part Four) who cherish the unity and well-being of the Mystical Body of Christ. Because the Holy Spirit endows each Christian with gifts for the common good (cf. 1 Cor. 12:7), all Christians are called, according to these diverse gifts, to participate in the Church's mission of evangelization. Two principal places of evangelization and catechesis upon which the bishops reflect are the family and the local parish. A concern for the local parish, manifested in sacrifices of time, talent, and treasure, should not make us unconcerned for the needs of the diocese, other dioceses, and the Universal Church.

A life of stewardship ought to lead to an acquaintance with the social doctrine of the Church, the pursuit of social justice, and the performance of works of mercy. Growth in the communion of charity, to which this part of the pastoral letter calls Catholics, is an effect of the Holy Eucharist. Thus Catholics, in a sense, are Eucharistic stewards who offer their lives to God at Mass in union with the unbloody renewal of the offering of Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim.

Inherit the Kingdom

The bishops conclude their letter by examining the New Testament portrait of the Christian steward. Stewards receive gifts from God, share them with others in a timely way, and must render an account to God at the end of their lives. Conscientious and faithful, they are attentive to the action of the Holy Spirit in their lives and the lives of others.

The life of a Christian steward, lived in imitation of the life of Christ, is challenging, even difficult in many ways; but both here and hereafter it is charged with intense joy. . . . [Such disciples] look forward in hope to hearing the Master's words addressed to those who have lived as disciples faithful in their practice of stewardship should: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (pp. 42-43).

The bishops look to Our Lady-with her call and gifts from God, her generous and prudent response, and her service and fidelity as a handmaid (cf. Lk. 1:38)-as the most perfect model of discipleship and stewardship after Our Lord. They conclude, "In light of all this, it only remains for all of us to ask ourselves this question: Do we also wish to be disciples of Jesus Christ? The Spirit is ready to show us the way-a way of which stewardship is a part" (p. 44).

Stewardship: A Disciple's Response can be ordered from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Publishing and Promotion Services, 3211 Fourth Street NE, Washington, DC 20017-1194, (800) 235-8722.

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