Cathedral School personnel promoting a life of stewardship

By enrolling their children in an educational program immersed in the Gospel, parents are offering these young disciples the gift of a Catholic worldview.”

Spencer Allen, principal, St. Joseph Cathedral School, Jefferson City

The team of teachers and staff at St. Joseph Cathedral School in Jefferson City has been helping fellow parishioners and school families develop a proper Catholic perspective on stewardship.

It is nothing short of a restoration of a proper relationship with Christ.

Principal Spencer Allen said parishes’ and schools’ biggest obstacle to reaching that goal is helping people understand that stewardship does not mean “fundraising.”

Rather, “stewardship is an acceptance, cultivation and sharing of those gifts from God, the primary one being the gift of His Son, and our call to holiness,” he said.

All other gifts flow from that primary gift, “which is why our conversations about stewardship have to be built on the foundation of providing resources and opportunities for our families to deepen their walk in discipleship,” Mr. Allen stated.

Toward this end, St. Joseph Cathedral School has held worship assemblies for students, facilitated prayer and catechetical events for adults, and provided regular resources based upon the four pillars of stewardship.

The pillars are hospitality, service, prayer and formation.

The school is planning an event for school fathers. There, in the context of Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, participants will hear from a diocesan priest and a fellow parent about embracing their role as a Christ figure for one’s family.

“We also have set up our new families with ambassador families to accompany them into the parish/school community and support them through a comprehensive process of initiation, orientation and invitation into a culture of stewardship,” said Mr. Allen.

Once individuals practice stewardship in their call to holiness, they can apply it freely to all of their other gifts, including thoughts, lives, families, homes and careers.

“Even our struggles and sufferings, such as the journey through the (coronavirus) pandemic, must be seen as allowed by God so that he can gift us with growth in perseverance and adherence to His grace,” said Mr. Allen.

All of this filters down to the gifts of time, talent and treasures.

“In addition to sharing these things with others in love and justice, we are called to return them to God,” Mr. Allen noted. “This happens most powerfully through our parish and diocese, where all of the dimensions of our lives converge, especially through the Sacrifice of the Mass.”

That is why supporting one’s parish is paramount.

“The parish is where one’s marriage becomes a sacrament, where our children are brought into the Body of Christ, and where we encounter the holiness we then bring into our homes — our domestic churches — and our workplaces and relationships,” he said.

He pointed out that Catholic schools exist to support parents in their roles as the first and best educators and the first heralds of Christ to their children.

“By enrolling their children in an educational program immersed in the Gospel, parents are offering these young disciples the gift of a Catholic worldview,” he said. “It is an investment that pays exponentially as, through the partnership of home and school, young people grow into their full potential and into their mission to transform the world with the Good News of Christ.”