VIII Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Cor 4:1-5


“Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”


What does it mean to be a steward, specifically a steward of the mysteries of God? The meaning is somewhat lost as to what stewards are and perhaps it has been simply relegated to the “time, talent, and treasure” cliché that is often passed off in the parish. Though these are indeed gifts from God to be used wisely and not abused, these do not quite capture the transcendent quality of what St Paul is referring to as the “mysteries of God.” I think it is of the utmost importance to articulate and understand what it means to be stewards, especially for us men in formation and to know what exactly we are being stewards of. The scary fact of the matter is that we will be regarded as stewards of the mysteries of God whether we like it or not, whether we are really worthy or qualified or not, simply by the fact of the office that has been bestowed upon us as a priest or deacon.

In the scriptures as well as ancient times, stewards were ones who managed the affairs of the state while the King was away or unable to do so. He basically ruled and had complete authority until the King returned. Some stewards, even though they rightly had all the power and authority of the King, ruled like they were actually the king himself and forgot that they were only there to do the will of the King and not their own will. This is obviously an example of a bad steward, one who does his own thing without regard to the King’s wishes. Another kind of steward just held the status quo, they knew the King’s will and followed it faithfully. No harm beheld the kingdom and everything went along smoothly. While this kind of steward might seem like a good steward, I would venture to say that this steward is in fact also an example of a bad steward. If you recall the parable of the talents: the man who buries the treasure only to return the same amount he was given back to his master, is this kind of steward. A steward who does not increase or magnify that which he was given, even that will be taken away from him.

Therefore a good steward must first realize the treasure that has been bestowed upon him. He must value it, love it, and cherish it. If you don’t know what it is you are “stewarding”, what good are you? A good steward is not like a security guard standing in front of a bank safe. The security guard has no idea what he is guarding nor does he really care about it. He is only to guard it with the force and authority of a gun because he is told to do so. No a good steward, would be more like the banker who is entrusted with the care of the funds and desires to increase it as well. Though this example really limits stewardship to mundane temporal goods, one does not have to go very far in making an analogous leap to what are the true mysteries of God: the Sacraments. The good steward must realize that the Sacraments are the great treasure of the Church, the mysteries of God. And therefore, being a good steward means that one must not only preserve the treasure itself, but also increase it and magnify it.

But can one multiply or increase that in which Christ is already truly present and working? No, it would not be possible and it would be blasphemous to do so. And yet, some would accuse us of doing so through the Catholic Church’s use of towering churches, extravagant liturgies, beautiful vestments, and ornate sacred vessels. Indeed the theological and liturgical ideologies have waxed and waned on this issue over the centuries. “If Sacraments are complete by the very work worked and since God is completely unfathomable we should call Him a ‘mystery’ and leave it at that, and we should not bother with anything more,” that is one line of thinking. The man who buried his talent in the dirt also has this same line of thinking.

The genius of the Incarnation is that God allows us to participate in the mystery of Christ’s redemptive work. God gives us opportunities and charges us with working to build up His Kingdom. It is His will, His Kingdom. We are His stewards. Not the bad stewards that do whatever they want, but God’s stewards in doing His will and increasing His Kingdom. Through cooperation with His grace, we are able to merit good works; and in a sense we are able to do His work our way. You could say we have a certain creative license as can be seen throughout history in the art and architecture. The essential work has never changed, but the packaging has had variations. Christ not only gives us the Sacraments themselves, but He gives us the privilege of celebrating the liturgy for the Sacraments. Often the participation in Christ’s redemptive work is seen as simply corporal works of mercy and charity – feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned. However, let us not forget that “liturgy” is also a work, an action, and it is most especially true in the context of the Holy Mass.

We do not and cannot add to the essence of the sacrament, but the liturgy, the work in which the sacrament finds itself, is our addition, our work, and our stewardship. As we sit in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, you can see the beautiful monstrance that we are using. The Eucharist does not really need the monstrance for it to be the Blessed Sacrament; however the beauty of the monstrance draws our attention into an appreciation of beauty itself, which gives a greater awe for the Eucharist – drawing one deeper into Christ. We enthrone Our Lord with all that is beautiful and good, not because we can make Him greater, but because at times even our faith needs help where our feeble senses fail.

When liturgy is beautiful and celebrated well – that is, everything flows smoothly, moves with precision, everybody sings together, and prays together – it will be confusing and somewhat disorienting for one who is not familiar with the ritual or whose faith is not very strong. Because the liturgy is celebrated beautifully, this will attract that person to learn and inquire more about it because people are attracted to good and beautiful things and at the same time they are attracted to the mystery – something that is exposed, yet hidden. If everything is laid out plainly and simply, there is no mystery, there is no desire to know more because the mind believes that it has already completely grasped it. The person wanders off to something else more interesting. We can understand and talk about the cleansing power of Baptism and transubstantiation all day long. The theological language is explained with sufficient accuracy, plain and simple words. But when you behold the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a meticulously crafted monstrance surrounded by cherubs and seraphs and has rays of golden beams shooting out from the center, flanked by tall columns of candles flickering, atop a marbled altar carved with care, in a sanctuary with intricate designs of symbols of something wholly other – towering high above making you seem just a little bit smaller than when you first walked in – the awesome majesty and glory, the auspicious mystery of God suddenly makes that little definition that you memorized in catechism class that much more real and tangible.

Though I have only been in formation in one other seminary, there is no other seminary I would rather be in than this one. I am very happy in my 9x12 closet that we call a room. I am happy with patchy wireless internet, leaky showers, and water with enough minerals to give you kidney stones. I know that the pillars of formation are still under heavy construction and encased in scaffolding – not where they need to be, but comforted to know that they are getting better. Things are optimistic and good. Although I might be biased because my ordination is in two weeks, I think the morale is higher than it ever has been in my four years here.

As soon to be ordained sacramental ministers, we have the responsibility, the duty to lead good liturgies to lead the people of God into worship and giving God all the praise and glory that we can muster. This starts right here in this chapel; we cannot wait and later play catch-up. We must relish in the sacred liturgical actions that we celebrate because we are and will be stewards of the mysteries of God, conveying the union between God and man. This is not exclusively the responsibility of the formation faculties, priests, deacons, or the MC, but it is the responsibility of the entire house. We must desire to not only celebrate beautiful liturgies, but to allow the liturgy to inform, form, and transform us. We cannot be good stewards without having a strong relationship with the mysteries with which we will celebrate.

Things are going alright here, I’m not complaining – we would probably do fine maintaining this status quo of the seminary liturgy being “alright” and “trying to get better” – plain and simple. However, if we are to heed St. Paul’s words, “to be servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God,” we would do well to work on that latter half. This is a challenge for us to take due diligence – to plumb the depths and explore the heights of the mysteries of God and examine our stewardship of those mysteries in the celebration of liturgy.