A Prayer to be Good Stewards

How do you handle the talents and gifts that you’ve been given by God? We were reminded in Wednesday’s readings that what we were given in this life, we are given in order to use for the glory of God. We are stewards of everything we have, not owners. And we will be called to give an account of everything we’ve used and how we’ve used it, including our time. St. Alphonsus Liguori once made a personal vow to never waste a moment of his time and he made sure that he was a good steward of the time he was given and of his talents and possessions. Like St. Alphonsus, we should do what we can to take advantage of the time we have because we don’t know when we will be called to give everything back and give our account. We should always pray to be good stewards, and a prayer that we can use is as follows:

Good and gracious God, I thank You for the beauty of the earth and all creation. Help me to always hear the call to be a good steward of Your gifts, the caretaker of all You have entrusted to us on earth. Let me always recognize, cherish and enjoy the goodness in all of creation. Teach me reverence for every person and all living things. O God, help me to use Your gifts wisely and share them generously. Whisper in my heart the reminder that I am but a temporary guardian of Your abundance; I am called to pass Your gifts on to the next generation. Let all I do be a reflection of Your love and care.

Amen. (Prayer by Therese Fink Meyerhoff)