During this time of year, I think about Stewardship and doing more, especially during Great Lent. I set some goals, involve my family and try to make a difference. The key is in the action… all of the goals, objectives and planning won’t mean much without the execution. In Father Tom Hopko’s book, The Lenten Spring, he says “According to the Scriptures, the giving of one’s possessions to satisfy the need of others is the most concrete expression of faith and of love. A person who claims to believe in God but does not help the needy has no living faith.”
This is confirmed through James 2:14-17: 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Goals for Great Lent 2018 (as recommended by the Holy Fathers):
- Prayer
- Inward reflection
- Confession of sins
- Conversion of the heart
- Renewal of the mind
- Almsgiving
