by Father John P. Cush, STD

At the risk of dating myself, the first U.S. president of whom I was conscious was Jimmy Carter. I seem to have vague recollections of the hostages being held in Iran and that Carter was the president. Most likely, I knew who the president was through my older siblings telling me of Dan Aykroyd’s impressions of Carter on Saturday Night Live. Whatever one may think of Carter’s politics, one can hardly argue that he wasn’t a strong practicing Christian man.

Former President Carter once told the story of his days working with Admiral Hyman Rickover when he was a young officer in the U.S. Navy. Carter states he learned a valuable life lesson from the experience.

The basic message of Mr. Carter’s story, namely, to always try your best and give 100% of yourself, can also be a message that we can glean from the Gospel this Sunday, taken from the evangelist Luke.

The Lord Jesus speaks of the “wise and prudent steward” whom the master has placed in charge of the household to distribute the food allowance at the proper time. Our savior states univocally: “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the per- son entrusted with more.”

As Catholics, we have been entrusted with much. We have been given the gift of faith by the Lord Jesus Christ and the consolation of the truth by the Holy Spirit.

By the will and the love of God, we live and move and have our being. Through our mother, the Church, we are fed with the finest of nourishment, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Through her, we receive the other life-giving sacraments and learn of the way of the Lord Jesus. We have indeed been given much. A question, then: What are we doing with what we have been given by the Lord and the Church?

In my role as a professor of theology for seminarians, I am charged with directing the intellectual formation of our seminarians. I know that I can’t give them what I don’t have. Therefore, I can’t rest on my laurels. I need to continue studying, preparing, researching, and writing so that I can serve them and remain an example of a diocesan priest actively engaged in the intellectual life of the Church. I need to continually update my lectures and classes, never being satisfied with something I did a long time ago and never revisited.

I tell the seminarians that they don’t have to be geniuses; that’s not what the Church necessarily needs; however, what they all need to do is give 100% of themselves over to their studies, to try their absolute best, to strive for excellence in knowledge the same way that a young medical intern would have to do because, ultimately, they will be doctors of the soul, spiritual surgeons, dealing with the supernatural healing necessary for the most important thing in the world: the salvation of souls. Don’t do it just for good grades; do it because the people of God need you to know your stuff.

What do we do with the gift of our faith? Have we continued to grow in knowledge of our faith, of sacred Scripture, of the teachings of the Church, or have we allowed our own faith formation to cease once we have received the sacrament of confirmation?

Our Diocese School of Evangelization helps guide our local directors of faith formation in every parish to offer some wonderful resources for the increase in knowledge of the faith and love of the Lord.

Have we continued to grow in our spiritual lives? Do we make the time, even if it’s just a few moments, for prayer? What is prayer? Prayer is a conversation with the One who loves us the most, our Lord.

If we can’t devote a great deal of time to prayer in our busy daily schedule, perhaps we might practice the art of becoming more aware of the presence of God in our daily lives. What do I mean by this?

Here are some suggestions: When we wake, take a brief moment and tell the Lord thanks for bringing us to a new day, and dedicate our thoughts, works, joys, and sufferings to his greater glory. During the day, stop when we have a break and offer an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory be for all those who just can’t, for whatever reason (persecution, sickness, etc.), pray.

At the end of the day, take a moment and thank the Lord for the good things of the day and ask him for forgiveness for times we have failed. Really simple, really basic, and this little practice of awareness usually will take no more than three minutes!

For those who wish to do more, the Church offers us her liturgy in the holy Mass and the Divine Office, the official prayer of the Church. The holy rosary is a simple and reliable way to practice contemplative prayer.

An Examen, coming from the spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola, is a wonderful way to grow in knowledge of God and self.

And, if we can, we can spend some time before the mirror of truth that is the Blessed Sacrament. These are just some simple ways to avoid becoming spiritually “flabby,” little ways in which we can hopefully grow to a mature spiritual relationship with Christ.

We indeed have been given much by the Lord, and, indeed, much is required.

May we become, in our vocations in life as laity, consecrated persons, and clergy, more and more those wise and faithful stewards described by our Lord in today’s Gospel.

May we always give 100% to Christ and his bride, the Church.