Our accountability of our stewardship

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          WE should be profoundly aware of our accountability of our

stewardship of the many things God has given us. We have to do

everything to keep that awareness active and functional, supported by

the appropriate means that first of all are spiritual in nature before

they are material.

          We are reminded of this duty when in the gospel Christ said,

“Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when

the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son

of Man will come.” (Lk 12,39-40)

          Since God has made us stewards of our own life, we need to

learn how to manage the many resources entrusted to us so that we can

be fruitful and productive in this life. Let’s remember that God will

always ask us to account for what he has given us.

          We have to be really good in managing our life, being clear

about the proper motives, priorities and standards, especially in the

use of our time. The motives should be none other than love of God and

others. The priorities should always be God first, then others, then

ourselves.

          And the standards should be such that at the end of the day

we can ‘harvest’ a good crop that at bottom is a matter of growth in

sanctity and apostolic zeal. We should be clever enough that we do not

get too entangled with the technicalities involved in the pursuit of

our earthly and temporal concerns, though they have their objective

value.

          In this regard, I suppose having daily plans and strategies

would greatly help us. We always need some structure to guide us and

facilitate things. This way we minimize getting distracted along the

way.

          For this, we have to sharpen our sense of accountability.

Yes, we should all have an abiding concern for accounting everything

that we are and that we have. We just cannot go on with our life as if

we are not answerable to anybody, especially to God, from whom we all

come and to whom we all belong.

          This is an indispensable part of our life, an

unrelinquishable duty to perform. Our problem is that many still are

ignorant of this duty, and of those who already know about this, the

tendency is to take it for granted or to do it badly or to avoid it if

given the chance.

          We need to find a way of instilling this duty in everyone,

starting with oneself and then encouraging others to do the same, in

the context of the families, schools, parishes, offices, etc.

          We always have to remember that what we are and what we have

are not self-generated but are always given to us one way or another,

if not by someone or by some other institution and authority, then by

God ultimately.

          Yes, we are always answerable to some people in varying ways

and degrees. These people can be our parents, teachers, friends,

neighbors, public officials, etc. In the end, we are all answerable to

God who has given us everything, starting with our life and all the

endowments that go with our life.

          We need to smash the thought that what we are and what we

have are just our own. That is a thinking that is completely false,

that stands on no objective foundation.  It needs to be corrected

drastically and urgently.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com