Practical stewardship

Share what you have, lest you lose what you have.  Spend what you possess on the needs of others in order to keep what you possess.  Do not cling to what you own, lest it be taken away from you.  Do not hoard your treasures, lest they rot and become worthless.  Entrust all your wealth to God, because then it is protected against all who want to steal or destroy it.  Do you understand what these injunctions mean?  Or do they sound like nonsense to you?  To the person without faith, they mean nothing.  But to the person with faith, they make perfect sense.  Faith tells us that God alone can supply the material things on which we depend.  He gives some people more than they need, not that they can enjoy great luxury, but to make them stewards on His bounty on behalf of orphans, the sick, and the crippled.  If they are bad stewards, keeping this bounty to themselves, they will become poor in spirit, and their hearts will fill with misery.  If they are good stewards, they will become rich in spirit, their hearts filling with joy.  St. John Chrysostom