The death of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo July 8, 2022, reminded us of his active role in promoting the message of stewardship. As president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, he convened a 4-day Buhay Katiwala Conference on Stewardship in Tagaytay City in February 9-12, 2009. He also required the Executive Secretaries of the CBCP Episcopal Commissions to attend a one-day seminar on stewardship on February 13, 2009. Among those in attendance were the late Rev. Fr. James B. Reuter, Executive Secretary, Episcopal Communication Commission, and the Rev. Fr. Francis B. Lucas, President of the Catholic Media Network, and recently elected Chairman of the Board of Metro Infanta Foundation.
In his homily at the Opening Mass of the Executive Secretaries Seminar, Archbishop Lagdameo reminded the Secretaries of the Bishops to “consider himself/herself as a steward, steward not only of the bishop-head of the commission, but more importantly of God himself in the work of your commission.” He also instructed them to consider stewardship as a “common way of approaching their respective responsibilities, in the spirit of unity in diversity, unites in diversitates.”
The CBCP president also hoped that through the secretaries one of the decrees of PCP II will come to life, which says “The Church through the initiative of the CBCP should develop a comprehensive theology of Stewardship…” (Art. 31, sec. 1). Noting that it has never been done, Archbishop Lagdameo challenged the secretaries “to come together again and again with a vision of articulating for the CBCP, whose secretaries you are, a comprehensive theology of stewardship.”
Archbishop Lagdameo recounted a few truths of stewardship: 1) that stewardship is the practical acknowledgement that one is not the absolute owner or master of himself and his possessions, nor of the world of nature (ecology) and of grace; and 2) that we have received them as gift and talent from God. And therefore, we must use them as grateful, accountable and responsible persons, in accordance with the intention or plan of the Divine Owner, to promote the common good and to establish the reign of God in the hearts of men.
The archbishop then said, “From the level of your commission, you will bring the Spirituality of Stewardship to the level of the wider apostolate of the Church such as the world of migrants, health care, indigenous people, propagation of the faith, lay apostolate, catechesis, education, social apostolate, Basic Ecclesial Communities, family and life, youth concerns, women’s concerns, biblical apostolate, prison apostolate, clergy, religious and seminarian formation, ecumenical and interreligious affairs, bishops’ especial concern, canon law and mass media.”
“The Spirituality of Stewardship” he continued, “would then be an overarching value that will provide other related values such as cooperation, co-responsibility, partnership, collaboration, interdependence, solidarity, servanthood and subsidiarity.” He reminded them that will need to “with the priests, religious and other lay people and, of course, with the bishops, who are the primary stewards in their respective local churches.”
Archbishop Lagdameo ended his homily with a couple more truths about stewardship. 1) that using God’s gifts, such as our time, talents, and treasures for God and neighbor, is an expression of stewardship. He cautioned the secretaries, however, that “money is not the only nor the first object of stewardship although how we use it may critically manifest the neglect or absence of stewardship.” 2) that biblical visions of stewardship are all over the Old Testament and New Testament, and that the first two chapters of Genesis are about creation and stewardship;
And 3) that in the end everybody we will all—business people, professionals, church ministers, public officials, rich and poor be judged.
“In the end,” said Archbishop Lagdameo, “we will be asked, rich or poor, how we have responded to the ‘need to give,” noting that in Acts Chapter 4:32-37 in the original Christian community: “There was not a needy person among them “because everyone responded to need to give.”
Archbishop Lagdameo must be proud that one of the decrees of PCP II has indeed come to life, and that with the CBCP Pastoral Statement on Stewardship, a theology of stewardship is now being developed, and that the Episcopal Office on stewardship has taken the responsibility of making it happen in the Church in the Philippines.
