We are only stewards of our own life

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

OF COURSE, our life is our own life. We may have to relate ourselves to everybody else, but my life is mine and your life is yours. Still, we should not forget that in the end, the absolute owner of our life, as he is of everything else in the world, is God. We are simply stewards tasked by God the Creator to take care of everything and, in the first place, of our own life.

As such, we always have to feel answerable to God. We have to abide by his will and law with regard to our life and to the world in general. We just cannot be on our own, making ourselves practically our own God.

Sad to say, this is what we are seeing these days in many places. People, especially the young ones nowadays, are living in their own world, with no clear anchor or point of reference or purpose in life. As they say, they would just do whatever comes naturally, whatever that means.

This is now a big challenge for us to face—how to make everyone realize that we are just stewards, not absolute owners of our own life and of things, even if we have the right to own private property. We have to constantly ask God what he wants us to do at every moment, how we ought to behave and react to a certain situation, etc.

This fundamental truth about ourselves should be with us all the time, and constantly duly acted upon. Ideally, at every end of the day, as at the end of our life, we should make some kind of a report to God about how we have managed what he has given us. That is why, making a daily examination of conscience at the end of the day is something recommendable for us to do.

With God as the absolute owner of our life and of everything else, we are actually given everything that we need not only to survive but also to make “a good business” in our life, irrespective of how things in our life go. We know that we have to expect all kinds of conditions and situations in life, some likeable and favorable, others disagreeable and off-putting.

As mentioned in the parable about the man who built his house on rock, God should be the foundation of our life. (cfr. Mt 7,24-27) “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because had been founded on the rock.” And when our life is not founded on God, “the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Indeed, the only thing possible for us when we are not with God and doing his will is to sin. Let’s remember the case of our first parents, Adam and Eve, when they were still in the state of original justice. They were not supposed to die nor to suffer. Their condition was perfect because they were still with God. The moment they forgot God, that’s when they fell.

For us to be a good steward, let’s follow the example of that poor widow who, in her poverty, put in all she had to live on into the temple treasury, (cfr. Lk 21,1-4) acting out what Christ once said that anyone who is willing to lose everything for God will gain a hundredfold in this life and life eternal in the age to come. (cfr. Mt 19,29)

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com