Stewardship

Every morning I read from Joan Chittister's book, The Rule of St. Benedict.   Today, I inadvertently read the text for Nov. 7. This passage is about the role of the cellarer, the one who "takes care of things and distributes  goods," and has me pondering stewardship. I went to the web to learn more about this role, and found this beautiful thought written by Father Wulstan Peterburs, OSB, Procurator of Ampleforth Abby in York:  

   

"In particular, St Benedict stressed the importance of the person and the quality of the relationships of people living and working together. He respected the individual’s freedom, but at the same time noted that there might need to be a little strictness to ‘amend faults and safeguard love.’ In his humane approach, he directed that the Abbot should ‘arrange everything that the strong have something to yearn for and the weak nothing to run from’, and that ‘in all things God should be glorified.'"

We are called to be good stewards of our environment, our work, home, families, and communities. Surely it is possible to create a society where both the strong and the vulnerable can flourish? Isn't this what our politics should be about? Granted, I live and work on a much smaller scale, but this idea seems to be at the heart of healthy relationships, whether at home or in the wider community. Benedictine spirituality is not about what Sister Joan calls, "false frugality," but rather that the goods of the monastery should be distributed "calmly, kindly, without favoritism, and under the guidance of the abbot or prioress, not to put people under obligation to them or wreak vengeance on those who rebuff them." We may not live in a physical monastery, but we are certainly in this life together: the monastery that is this world. Let us tend to it with the care it deserves.

We all have needs and hopefully, we all have dreams and goals. Let us always make room for the Spirit to bring us together in creative, caring ways where truly all can thrive: leading when called, healing when needed, receiving with gratitude, and sharing as much as we can. This is how God's love can be known to all.


Love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, is also civic and political, and it makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world. Love for society and commitment to the common good are outstanding expressions of a charity which affects not only relationships between individuals but also, macro-relationships, social, economic and political ones.
~Laudato Si` #231