Socio-Pastoral Institute

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo

Below is the homily of Archbishop Angel N.  Lagdameo delivered in the Opening Mass of the “Buhay Katiwala Conference for Executive Secretaries of the Episcopal Commissions of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines” in Tagaytay City on Feb 13, 2009.

We have just finished a 4-day seminar or journey on the Spirituality of stewardship. In this 5^th day it was thought useful and advantageous to share a summary of Spirituality of Stewardship with the more than 20 Executive Secretaries of our CBCP Episcopal Commissions.

Since on you, as Secretaries of the Bishops, depend all the activities of the commissions, it would be good we thought for you to have a common way of approaching your respective responsibilities, in the spirit of unity in diversity, “unites in diversitates” This common approach is by way of the Spirituality of Stewardship. Each one of us, each one of you may consider himself/herself as a steward, steward not only of the bishop-head of the commission, but more importantly of God himself in the work of your commission.

It is hoped that through your group one of the decrees of PCP II will come to life, which says “The Church through the initiative of the CBCP should develop a comprehensive theology of Stewardship…” (Art. 31, sec. 1). It has never been done. Will it be done this year? Through you? That is the challenge I am putting to you. It will not, it cannot, be done today. But it will be a reason for your group or commission to come together again and again with a vision of articulating for the CBCP, whose secretaries you are, a comprehensive theology of stewardship.

Stewardship, we have been told, is the practical acknowledgement that one is not the absolute owner or master of himself and his possessions, nor of the world of nature (ecology) and of grace. We have received them as gift and talent from God. And therefore, we must use them as grateful, accountable and responsible persons, in accordance with the intention or plan of the Divine Owner, to promote the common good and to establish the reign of God in the hearts of men.

What I have stated is a general principle. It will depend upon each how this general principle will operate in each particular situation, in each commission. You will bring the Spirituality of Stewardship down to your respective commission’s sphere of activity and influence.

From the level of your commission, you will bring the Spirituality of Stewardship to the level of the wider apostolate of the Church such as the world of migrants, health care, indigenous people, propagation of the faith, lay apostolate, catechesis, education, social apostolate, Basic Ecclesial Communities, family and life, youth concerns, women’s concerns, biblical apostolate, prison apostolate, clergy, religious and seminarian formation, ecumenical and interreligious affairs, bishops’ especial concern, canon law and mass media.

The Spirituality of Stewardship would then be an overarching value that will provide other related values such as cooperation, co-responsibility, partnership, collaboration, interdependence, solidarity, servanthood and subsidiarity.

The Spirituality of Stewardship would then be offering a common approach to the various concerns of the Philippine Church. Through you, individually and collectively, the Philippine Church will be in a state of stewardship. This you will do together with the priests, religious and other lay people and, of course, with the bishops, who are the primary stewards in their respective local churches.

The spending and use of God gifts to us, such as, our time and talents and treasures for God and neighbor, is an expression of stewardship. Treasures, such as real property and money are included. Money is not the only nor the first object of stewardship although how we use it may critically manifest the neglect or absence of stewardship.

The biblical visions of stewardship are all over the Old Testament and New Testament. The first two chapters of Genesis are about creation and stewardship. The most important themes of Jesus’ preaching are about stewardship. He tells us that this is how in the end everybody will be judged. This is how business people, professionals, church ministers, public officials, rich and poor, will be measured and judged. There is nothing that we have not received, directly and indirectly, from the Lord, all are gifts and entrusted to us. In the end we will be asked, rich or poor, how we have responded to the “need to give.” In Acts Chapter 4:32-37, we have the original description of the Christian community: “There was not a needy person among them “because everyone responded to need to give.”

Slideshow of the Stewardship Gathering

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Archbishop Orlando Quevedo

In the homily of the closing mass of the Stewardship Conference in Tagaytay on Feb. 12, 2009, Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo clarifies the relationship between BEC and stewardship.

Stewardship

As I listened today to your discussions and to the orientation given me I was struck by one concern. On the one hand, a spirituality of stewardship seems to be very necessary. On the other hand spirituality in the BEC seems to be different. I would like to address this concern directly.

Stewardship, as we all know, consists of the humble acknowledgement that all is God’s gift, literally everything that we are or have, everything in the whole of creation. God gave everything to us to care for, to foster, to promote, to cultivate. We are God’s stewards. To him we are accountable. We return God’s gifts not only because it is our duty, but because we are profoundly grateful for His gift. Gratitude expresses itself by sharing the gift.

In the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines in 1991, we emphasized the idea that in a renewed Church a spirituality of following Christ, a spirituality of discipleship is absolutely imperative. This is the spirituality commonly taught in the BECs.

But a spirituality of stewardship is one way of looking at discipleship. It is really a spirituality of the disciple-steward.

Stewardship in the BEC

To understand this better, let us have a second look at what a BEC is and what it does.

In the Philippines, a BEC emerges when a community of faith usually at the grassroots level discerns their pastoral realities, sees where they are as church, and envisions what they should be in the light of the Word of God and of the challenges that face them.

And thus they become a community of believers centered on the Word of God, regularly come together to listen to God’s Word, pray over it, reflect on it, share it, and apply it to their daily life, so that through their faith they may participate in announcing the Kingdom of God and be a force for social transformation. They are led by trained leaders whom they select from among themselves for various tasks under the guidance of their parish priest.

The key fundamental principles they live by come from the Second Vatican Council and are rooted in their baptismal consecration. They are the principles of co-responsibility, empowerment, participation, and sharing.

To see these fundamental BEC principles from the perspective of stewardship is to realize that from the very beginning the nature of the BEC and what it does are, indeed, stewardship. To each member of the BEC, God has given gifts, especially by reason of baptismal consecration. Because of these gifts, they are co-responsible in the mission of the Church. They are empowered to participate in the mission, share their gift of faith with others, and are moved by that faith to a mission of love and justice. They are responsible for their mission. They are accountable for their faith. That is how they exercise their stewardship of God’s gifts to them.

In the BEC stewardship is usually applied only to creation – stewardship over creation, the care of the earth and all its goods. But one can see from the above, that stewardship applies as well to the mission of the BEC, to all the roles, tasks, and events in the BEC. Hence a participatory and accountability ethic is central to the BEC.

Moreover, one recalls that in the BEC co-responsibility, participation, empowerment and sharing are seen from the perspective of the Kingdom of God and are intimately related to a pro-community and pro-people / pro-poor stance. How convergent this Kingdom perspective is with the parables of the Kingdom in the Gospels related to disciple-stewardship (e.g., the parable of the unjust steward, of the faithful steward)!

This is why governance and tasking in the BEC, selection of leaders, knowing the gifts of various members, discerning talents, knowing what each can capably do, evaluating performances – are of major import. It is fundamental that all this are under the leading of the Holy Spirit.

This is why prayer in the BEC is a sine qua non. A praying community is part and parcel of the identity of the believing community.

Formation in integral faith, the first of the nine major pastoral priorities of the Church in the Philippines according to the 2001 National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal, is absolutely necessary to realize a participatory and accountability ethic. From this faith formation flows the alternative and participatory support system of “modified” tithing (monthly family pledges). It is simply a necessary corollary to the principles of co-responsibility and participation in mission.

From the above, one can see that a spirituality of disciple-stewardship is the animating force of the BEC. To adjust the cultural image that Bishop Rolando Tirona had earlier mentioned, such spirituality is not only the support (the katid) of the Filipino banca but is in fact the “motor” or the engine that provides power and energy to the banca.

In sum, a spirituality of disciple-stewardship is the “soul” of the BEC. It can be, I believe, the integrating and unifying concept for all BECs in the Philippines.

Towards the Church of the Poor Facing the Burning Challenges of Our Day

Stewardship is indispensable for a Church of the Poor. As a theological and pastoral vision of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines towards which the whole Church in the Philippines is moving, the members of a Church of the Poor, whether rich or poor, have to live evangelical poverty.

They need to realize that everything they are and have, are gifts of God over which they have co-responsibility and accountability. Their resources are at the service not merely of themselves but also of others, especially the poor, for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

A Church of the Poor is in solidarity with the materially poor, where the poor truly feel at home. It is a Church that ennobles them and recognizes, defends, and activates their God-given rights and gifts, a Church that promotes social justice on their behalf for the sake of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God. Again, the implications are obvious: co-responsibility, empowerment, participation, sharing, accountability – stewardship.

This is particularly urgent in face of the burning issues of today – the Church’s search for the truth in the political and economic order in the midst of alleged scams and reports of corruption, the quest for justice and integrity.

We need to be reminded that we are stewards of truth, stewards of integrity and justice. We need to be so in our own professions and states of life. And we have to pray and work for truth, integrity, and justice in the many ways available to us, in families and BECs, in other faith communities, in parishes and in the wider community.

What impact we could have if and when all the more than 60 dioceses in the Philippines that have BECs would truly be, as disciple-stewards, an authentic sign of truth, integrity, and justice! Genuine disciple-stewardship in a BEC would make it truly a powerful “contrast community” in our present society, a potent agent of evangelization and social transformation.

Recommendation

We all have to move towards this vision of a Church of the Poor, energized by a spirituality of disciple-stewardship.

For this reason, I intend as Chairman of the CBCP – BEC National Office to:

foster stewardship as the integrating and unifying theological and pastoral conviction of BECs in the Philippines;

promote the spirituality of disciple-stewardship in the BECs; and

initiate a program of training Diocesan BEC coordinators in the spirituality of disciple-stewardship.

Conclusion

To make the BEC an authentic sign of a Church of the Poor as well as a powerful and effective channel towards the vision of the Church of the Poor, committed to announce its faith in the Lord Jesus and to participate in social transformation – that is the vision of PCP-II. This is our collective dream.

We begin with living disciple-stewardship and its spirituality in ourselves. For change to endure it has to begin in the heart.

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