Time is God’s most precious gift to us, and we thank Him for this gift by using all of it wisely. Stewardship of Time is about how you spend every minute of every day. Most of us feel we don’t have enough time for all the things we want to do. Everyone is given the same amount of time: 24 hours each day, 168 hours each week. The question is simple— how do we choose to use our time? Time is a limited resource, so we need to prioritize how we use it, which means putting the most important things first.
Our Relationship with God, Our Family and Our Community
Our relationship with God is our first priority—time spent in prayer— at Mass, in our personal lives such as through private reading of Scriptures and meditating on God’s holy word. Our second priority should be our relationship with our family—time spent building a strong family unit filled with love and respect for life. Our third priority should be our relationship with our parish and and the community within and beyond our parish boundaries—time spent supporting others in their faith journeys and daily life— ministering to those in need.
What Does Prayer Look Like?
In his homily on February 21, 2015, Father John Fuchs’ shared the many ways we can pray. He noted that in its simplest form, prayer is “being present to God’s presence.” Father John provided a great example of how prayer is an innate part of our human existence — how babies enter into the world “praying” with that initial cry “help me.”
Stewardship of Time Witness Talk Is New
Terese Schomogyi delivered the first ever witness talk on the 
Stewardship of Time at Saint Patrick Catholic Church. After much prayer and discernment, our pastoral leadership team decided that giving the youth of our parish the opportunity to share their gifts and perspectives on stewardship of time and prayer was most suitable.
Prayer Life from a Young Parishioner Perspective
Terese is a parishioner at Saint Patrick Catholic Church and 2012 Saint Patrick Catholic School graduate. Terese has a great story to tell. She shared very concrete and personal ways she stays present to God’s presence in her life with the parish faith community at all Masses during the weekend of February 20 – 21, 2016. Listen to Father John’s homily on prayer then Terese’s witness talk starting at the 9 minute mark. You can also read Terese’s Witness Talk on Stewardship of Time.
How Will You Spend Your Time?
The Catholic faith is full of prayer forms and tradition that are available to all of us. Find a prayer form that works for you and truly cultivate your prayer life in order to connect and build a truly personal relationship with Him.
Terese acknowledged that it’s not always easy for to make time for God, and with all our busy lives I’m sure it’s not easy for many of us.
She encouraged everyone start to carve out the time during this Lenten season. Terese noted that the Stewardship of Time Lenten Table Tent, published by the Archdiocese of Seattle that was passed out at Ash Wednesday Mass was a good resource. She invited the faith community to incorporate these suggestions into time spent “with God into the next 40 days” by dedicating “5 or 10 minutes each morning for quiet reflection on Scripture” or “take a weekend or even just a day for a reflective retreat, she suggested.”
The Stewardship of Time Lenten Table Tent is available in the vestibule of the church or it can be download. It provides many suggestions on ways to be good Stewards of Time, for yourself, with your family and for mercy during the season of Lent to help you on the road to good stewardship of God’s gifts!
