Good Shepherd Church at 214 South Garland Avenue, Garland, TX 75040 US - U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Stewardship

True stewardship is taking care of and sharing all that we have and all that we are—our time, talents, and treasure.

Why do we need to give? We need to give our money to individuals and families in need, to the Church, and to other worthwhile charitable organizations because giving money is good for the soul and because we need to return thanks to a loving God for all of the many blessings each of us has received.

"How much do I have to give?" The answer (from a stewardship perspective) is nothing. We don’t have to give anything. "How much do we want to give?" is the question that stewardship asks. Stewardship is not minimum giving. It is maximum giving. That means giving as much as we can, as often as we can, from the heart as a faith response because we are generous stewards who want to share our time, talent, and treasure with others.

Frequently, in discussions of stewardship (or "sacrificial giving"), reference will be made to "the biblical tithe" (giving 10 percent of income) and other norms that could provide helpful guidelines for generous giving. As disciples of Jesus, each of us has a responsibility to support the Church and to contribute generously to the building up of the Body of Christ. The emphasis in the bishops’ pastoral, Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response, is not on “tithing” (giving a fixed percent of income), but on giving according to our means. In many ways, this is a far more challenging norm. It challenges us to be good stewards not only in how much we give away, but in what we do with all our resources.