What else is there to give when one has already given away their body and their life? What more can one say or do to demonstrate love for another when all they have has been given to another? This total giving of self to loved ones cannot be trumped by flowery words or material gifts that are fleeting. This is the ultimate in love. This is the love Jesus had for us on the way to his passion, at the institution of the Holy Eucharist. This is the love he has for us daily in the celebration of the Mass on altars in every church, in every city, in every nation on earth. No one can give more. No one can ask for more. This is the true heart of Christian stewardship.

If you take the time to gaze upon your God in the simplest of forms and begin to reflect on what has actually taken place with bread and wine becoming the presence of the Divine, then you can begin to understand true humility, sacrifice, and love. And when you have the privilege to take that Real Presence into your body at the meal where you are an honored guest, you become one with the One who is the embodiment of stewardship. Then, you must ask the question of yourself, “How can I even begin to reflect the love that I have encountered at this feast?” The answer is you can begin with the simple actions of the day: where will you go, whom will you meet, and in what work will you partake? Jesus Christ has shown that the greatest gift ever given can be disguised in this world in a piece of bread. By joining your body to his, he can now transform human hearts, not by grand acts, but by everyday acts, by everyday people practicing Everyday Stewardship.

–Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS